The Devil's Bodyguard
by Wellsy71
Summary: Based one year after Tekken 5 and a side story to Tekken 6. Jin hired Nina as his personal bodyguard after bounties were placed on him, but soon they will realise they have a lot in common. Jin/Nina. Warnings: Violence, swearing and some adult situations
1. The Offer

A/N: Hello all, this is my first Tekken fic. I have been on the site for nearly a year writing Final Fantasy stories, but I figured a change and a break from it will be good. Anyway, I have played all the Tekken games right up until Tekken 5 (I don't have a PS3 or a PSP to get Tekken 6, but I have done my research). Anyhow, I had noticed that it has been stated that Jin and Nina share a certain relationship throughout Tekken 6 and I wish to use it to write a behind the scenes sought of thing for the main storyline of the game, so by saying that I have been inspired the other fics on this pairing to write one of my own. So here we go...

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco. Anything I decided to add, such as OC's, will be of my own creation.

* * *

**Chapter One: The Offer**

_One year ago…_

The crowd was roaring as the two competitors made their way out to the arena, both of which were blocking out the noises and kept their focus on one another. This was one of the matches that people had wanted to see, to watch as two bitter sisters fight each other to settle their sisterly rivalry. Meeting in the middle and never breaking eye contact, the blonde and brunette women just stood there like it was going to be the final frontier.

The brunette woman in the red Chinese style dress and high heels narrowed her eyes at her older sister and clenched a fist.

"This time…I will kill you," Anna Williams threatened. She had to be joking, right? Well that's what her sister thought as she laughed and then placed an icy cold gaze on Anna with her beautiful blue eyes.

"You don't learn, do you?" Nina taunted and then got into her fighting stance. "Well, come on then."

Anna smirked and then she too got into position.

The battle was set, and then the referee signalled the start of the first round…

Later, they were nearing the end of the third and final round. Nina won the first round halfway through before Anna came back to claim the next one toward the end. But now with both girls exhausted, it was anyone's fight. Glaring at the blonde, Anna then started charging at her. Nina saw this coming and when Anna got closer, she side-stepped out of the way. Anna stopped and then didn't have enough time to react. As she turned around, Nina was thrusting her hands out towards her torso and it was a quick, powerful move as Anna suddenly found herself flying through the air. She hit the ground heavily and was on her back. The referee looked over to her and then at Nina before he called the fight. The blonde woman in the purple cat-suit smirked at her sister.

"Do as you wish." Anna hissed. Nina chuckled and crossed her arms as Anna got herself onto all fours.

"Anna, you're pathetic," she said coldly and then turned her back. "That didn't satisfy me at all. I refuse to kill you."

Astonished, yet infuriated by her sister's arrogance, Anna gritted her teeth and then beat the ground like a spoilt child who didn't get their own way.

"You bitch!"

Nina turned around fully and laughed.

"Ha! That look is priceless."

* * *

_Present Day…_

_February 4th 2008_

It had been a year since the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 and the start of the uprising of the Mishima Zaibatsu, who had began a quest of taking over the world. Ultimately this had sparked a war between them and the G-Corporation, who had been mysteriously taken over. It was later revealed a month later that Kazuya Mishima had murdered G-Corporation executives and taken over the entire empire, he stated that he wanted to face the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu…his son, Jin Kazama. The war had been going on ever since and quickly got heated. Cities and towns had been raided around the world, bounties had been placed on heads and riots occurred.

In an underground bar near the centre of Tokyo, there were underground fighting leagues been held on a constant basis and there was only one rule: Two people enter the octagon, one person leaves as at some stages people fight to the death. This was the perfect place for the person pulling up in a black limousine to find a suitable candidate. Pulling off his sunglasses, Jin Kazama looked over to his guards and held his hand out as if to tell them to stay put.

"Stay here and keep the car running," he said plainly. "I don't want to cause too much commotion in there."

The guards nodded and followed their boss' orders. Since taking over the Mishima Zaibatsu after defeating his great-grandfather, Jinpachi Mishima, Jin quickly was recognised as a powerful man. Taking over parts of the world did come at a cost, his head was under a bounty ordered by his father Kazuya and people had taken their chances to eliminate Jin at any chance they got. Although they all failed, Jin knew that it was only a matter of time before his luck would run out.

Looking up at the sign of the bar and then back at the door, he hoped that the answer to his problem would be inside…

* * *

The caged octagon was surrounded by cheering, but drunken crowds. A slender, blonde haired woman took down her umpteenth opponent for the evening. Every single round, people would lose money to the owner of the bar because they would bet against her. Eventually, the owner had decided to change the situation a little. Signalling to the two bulky men guarding the cage door, the men opened it and waved eight muscular men to enter. The cage closed and suddenly the woman was being circled by eight, testosterone-fuelled men.

Narrowing her eyes at them, she scanned around before getting into her fighting stance.

Nearby at the back of the crowd, Jin watched the woman in black leather pants and a black crop top take her stance. He instantly recognised her by stance alone, he had seen her fight and fought against her once before. Turning his head to the bartender, he asked him,

"Hey, is she a regular here?"

The bartender laughed and then looked amusingly at the dark-haired man.

"Are you kidding? She practically goes to all the bars in this city and fights, this bar in particular on a nightly basis," the bartender replied. "I'm surprised that the men survive afterwards, I hear that she's worked as an assassin."

Jin nodded and looked back up at the ring. He put his hand inside the pocket of his dark trench coat and pulled out some money.

"I want to put 200 yen on her," Jin said.

The bartender looked at the young man as if he went insane and then took the money. And just as the transaction was made, the action was starting to heat up…

Five minutes in and Nina had already taken down three men, all with ease. However, the remaining opponents were wary of her advanced skills in Akido and bone breaking martial arts and were able to counter her moves. She was then thrown up against the cage winced in pain as her bare back connected with the metal. Gritting her teeth, Nina charged at the man in the middle of the ring and as he went to grab her, she back-flipped over the six foot tall human and as she landed, Nina landed a kick into the centre of his spine. The kick was hard enough to possibly leave him with a broken spine.

The remaining trio looked at each other and then ran at her. Nina got back into fighting stance, bracing herself. As they got closer, she jumped and spun through the air with her leg extended and connected her foot with two of their faces…and that left one. He looked terrified, who wouldn't. She was a trained killer who just took down seven fully grown men in such a short space of time and was still standing. But in this game it was do or die, and he wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. Throwing a right punch at her, the man missed her as she side-stepped and then grabbed his arm and flipped him upside down. The large male fell onto his back and groaned in pain, which was to increase as Nina threw her legs across his chest, his arms between her legs and then quickly and swiftly she yanked the limb towards her and a loud crack was heard. People on the outside cringed and then witnessed as she got up she kicked her victim in the head.

There was a massive out roar of cheering spectators. Nina let a sigh of relief and looked around at the aftermath. Eight unconscious men lay there, and she was the one who done it. Smiling at her achievements, she looked down at her hands.

'Not bad,' she thought. 'This might be a new record.'

Looking back up and in the direction of the bar, her eyes caught the attention of a very familiar figure. A dark haired man in a long dark coat was receiving money from the bartender, obviously he had bet on her. He looked up at her direction and met her eyes. They were like that for a short moment and then she turned away and left the ring toward the locker room.

* * *

Ten minutes later the bar cleared as it was closing time. Drunken patrons stumbled out and hoping that whatever house they entered was theirs. Jin leaned up against the limousine with a big smile on his face, and for two reasons. One was that he walked out of there with several thousand yen and the second was that he may have found his answer in a certain blonde woman that impressed him.

Shortly after, she walked out with a bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was still up in a ponytail, but changed into a pair of black jeans and white tank top. She was obviously looking around for a taxi of some sorts and Jin couldn't help but smirk.

"Are you looking for a ride somewhere?" Jin asked and pushed himself off the car.

Nina looked at him, astonished that he would even talk to her, even though she had tried to assassinate him in the third tournament. But he was a different person, no longer that boy who only sought the vengeance for his mother's sudden disappearance, but possibly one of the two most powerful men in the world.

"What are you doing here, Kazama?" she asked coldly. "Didn't think you of all people would come to a place like this."

Jin shook his head and opened the door.

"Come in here, all will be explained."

She nodded and climbed into the back. Jin followed her in and closed the door. Usually Nina wouldn't take an offer for a ride so quickly without knowing what for, but somehow she felt as if something good was to come out of it.

"Where to boss?"

"We're not going to headquarters tonight, we'll go straight to my villa in the mountains."

The driver nodded.

"Roger that."

Jin looked at her.

"Where are you staying?"

Nina met his gaze. In reality, she had been staying in the spare rooms of the bars that she had been fighting in. But it seemed that the owner that night didn't want anyone staying over. Shrugging her shoulders and looking out the window, she answered.

"Nowhere for tonight at least," she replied quickly, Nina just wanted to get down to business. "Now, what is it that you want?"

Sighing, Jin reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper handed it to her.

"I want you to become my new bodyguard," he stated. "I think the figure on the paper should be more than reasonable."

Nina looked at him with a raised eyebrow before looking down and then eyes widened, she knew that this was too good to be true. Never in her life she had dreamt of earning the amount that she was looking at. Not even her highest-profile assassinations compared to this price of serving as Jin Kazama's bodyguard. But there was one question to be asked.

"The offer is good, but why are you hiring me?" Nina asked, trying not to sound ungrateful. "Don't you remember that I tried killing you?"

Jin chuckled.

"Yes, but putting that aside I think you're the best person for the job."

Sighing and then pocketing the paper, she extended her hand.

"Well then, I guess that we have ourselves a deal," she said. The young man in front of her smiled and then shook her hand, sealing the deal.

"Glad to hear it. Now, to make things more convenient for your job, you will be living with me so you can fulfill your role accordingly. So basically wherever I go, you will be there."

This statement made the blonde woman smirk, it all seemed to be straight-forward. Stop other people getting in Jin's way and protect him from any harm, this was too easy. And on top of that, she was getting a free place to stay while she was working under him. Nina was the sort of person who isn't too picky about her clients or who she worked for, just as long as she had money in her pocket by the end of the day.

'This shouldn't be too hard of a job,' she thought. 'I mean how hard could it be to protect the likes of Jin Kazama?'

* * *

A/N: Well that's my first chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it and there will be future updates :)


	2. Freeway Horror

A/N: Just to answer a question asked in the reviews, the octagon used in the fight scene last chapter was inspired by the one in Death by Degrees. Anyway, I'm surprised by the amount of reviews I've received so far, usually I would only get one review to start with and then get more in later chapters, thanks guys and I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far. This chapter will have a bit of action towards the end, so hopefully you'll all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Freeway Horror **

The tall building was empty, not even the soldiers wandered around. The corridors were left dark and deserted, but only one floor had sound as the punching of a bag could be heard. It was the only lit room in the entire building, but very few had been brave enough to enter when this particular person was in there.

The punching stopped and as he stood there, an evil smirk formed across Kazuya's lips. Clenching his fists, he brought his arm back before thrusting it forward, hitting the centre of the bag. There was so much force behind it that the bag split in half and the sand fell into a mess on the ground. Retracting his fist, Kazuya wiped the bead of sweat that formed on his forehead and then looked down into his hands. For some unknown reason, he had began to feel the devil within growing stronger by the day, it was beginning to become a large influence.

'I wonder if he feels it too,' Kazuya thought and then chuckled. 'Our blood controls our destinies and it'll only be a matter of time.'

'_I can sense the hate flowing through his body,' Devil spoke in his mind. 'Remember that he has my other half.' _

'But soon, that power will be mine.'

He was deep within his own thoughts that he didn't notice the woman in the red dress standing in the doorway.

"They told me that you would be in here," that familiar voice spoke, Kazuya hadn't heard that voice for over twenty years.

Smirking, he turned around and looked at the woman. Anna Williams stood there in a short red dress and red high heels. Her brunette hair was still in that bob-cut style and she wore red eyeliner. Unlike her sister who looked more like a goddess, Anna looked more exotic.

"Miss Williams, it's been a while," Kazuya said after a while. "But I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

Giggling in her girlish manner, she took a step forward and offered the man a photo.

"I think that you would find this rather amusing."

Raising an eyebrow, Kazuya grabbed the photograph and glanced at it. An evil smile formed on his lips as he saw the two people in the photo, appearing to be getting into a car together.

"I wonder what she's doing with him" he muttered to himself and then looked at the brunette woman. "This could prove to be a barrier for my plans."

"So what are you saying?"

Kazuya handed Anna back the photograph and crossed his arms.

"As of tomorrow, you work for me and my first order for you is to eliminate Jin Kazama by any means necessary," Kazuya stated. "If this photo is true, then there would be a chance that your sister will try and kill me through his orders. We cannot allow that to happen."

Anna smiled. A chance to get even with Nina, she would be stupid enough to refuse the offer. It was the second chance that she was looking for, Nina left her in the middle of the arena refusing to finish her off for good, branding Anna worthless and pathetic. Perhaps being on opposite sides of the war was the perfect setting for a final showdown.

"I'll do whatever it takes," she replied after a while. "I'll stop him and that bitch, but I do ask for a heavy price…"

Kazuya waved his hand.

"Of course, I'll give you the figures in the morning," he said and picked up a towel off the ground. "Come by in the morning and we'll discuss the plan."

* * *

The limo traveled through the surrounding mountains to a large villa, a heavily guarded fortress as there were guards everywhere and all were armed with the latest in weapons technology. The gate swung open as the limo approached, gaining it access and it drove straight in. Cobblestone driveway led to a set of concrete front steps and the vehicle pulled up beside it. Nina got out and stood there, peering up towards the tip of the triangular roof. And she thought that she lived in luxury, which was far from the truth as her job took her from place to place which made her unable to find a suitable home, but the truth was that this guy was powerful and could get anything that he wanted.

"I see you've done well for yourself, Kazama," she said in amazement. Jin walked up beside her and looked at a guard.

"Go and inform the maid to prepare the room next to mine for Miss Williams," Jin ordered. The soldier saluted and rushed in. Jin looked at the blonde woman. "I better point a couple of things out for you…" He pointed to a temple-like building to the left of the villa, Nina looked over in that direction. "In there is a small dojo that I built for myself to train in, but you're free to use it whenever you like."

Nina looked at him and gave a small smirk.

"And I thought it was orders not to be out of your sight."

"I'm in there most of the time anyway when I come here on the weekends, but I'm safe in here if my guards are alert," he replied evenly. "Basically you're allowed anywhere in the premises, except for the hot spring down the back, you're only allowed there if someone is with you."

Nina nodded and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"So where am I staying?"

Jin motioned his head and led them inside.

The villa was three stories tall, with a gallery that overlooked the main hall. The carpet was a red velvet colour, so were the drapes. Wooden furniture furnished the entire house and various artworks hung off the walls. Nina couldn't help to feel amazed at this young man's success, it was one of the most captivating houses she had ever been in.

'Hmm, not bad,' she thought as she continued to gaze in wonder. 'Perhaps this is too much luxury for me to handle.'

They managed to reach the third floor to a security coded door. Jin punched in the numbers on the keypad and opened it, pulling the door open and allowed Nina to enter first. Inside was a lounge room, with a spa in the corner of the room. On the far side stood a set of large twin double doors and beside it was a smaller single wooden door. Nina guessed that's where she would be staying.

"You'll be staying in that room, it has another door inside that connects the two bedrooms and allows you to quickly access mine," Jin pointed out and pointed to a door next to the spa. "In there is the bathroom and…" He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "This is the combination to get into here. Make sure the door is always closed."

The door opened again, revealing a tall, tanned skinned man in a dark suit. His dreadlocked hair was tied back and his eyebrow piercing was gleaming in the light. Nina has seen this man before.

"Eddy, how did it go?"

The man shook his head.

"We tried entering the temple, but my men were wiped out as they approached."

Jin sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"We might have to try again later, but we can't leave it too late as my father might succeed," he said and nodded at Eddy. "Rest up and we'll talk more soon."

Before he left, Eddy looked over to Nina and she met his gaze. He had recognised her and then before either one could say anything, he left. Once the door closed, Nina turned to Jin.

"What's Eddy Gordo doing here?"

"I gave him a top position in the Tekken Force," Jin explained. "He asked me for a favour and then I told him that he needs to repay the debt. But no more on that, I think it's time to call it a night."

Nina nodded. A good night sleep was on top of the order considering that she just fought off a couple dozen of men that night.

* * *

_Twenty-two years ago…_

_She awoke with a pounding head. All Nina could remember was her pointing her sniper rifle at Kazuya's head, ready to take the shot. But something stopped, like a blunt force struck her on the back of the head and then she fell limp. Now awake, she found herself in a dark, cold cell awaiting her fate. _

_The door swung open and the face that she didn't want to see was there, smirking at her failure. Kazuya walked in with a flank of guards either side of him and then he motioned for them to go and pick up the young woman on the ground. They did as they were told and hoisted Nina up onto her feet roughly. Groaning in pain, she quickly narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her as he tilted her head up by a finger on her chin. _

"_Pathetic," he snorted. "I should kill you right here." _

"_Just do it then," Nina replied coldly. "I don't give a shit anymore. Even if I lose my life to a heartless coward such as yourself." _

_With a sneering look on his face, Kazuya backhanded her across the cheek, whipping her head sideways. _

"_You of all people dare to call me a coward! You tried to murder me with a sniper rifle, perhaps you're mistaken." He grabbed her hair and pulled. "You're the coward, not me." He released her and looked at the guard holding Nina's right side. "Strip her down and take her down to the laboratory, we have some use for her after all." _

_Within an hour, Nina was stripped down naked and was led down to the underground laboratory of the Mishima Zaibatsu. She was forcefully thrown onto a cold metal slate, despite her struggle but she was too weak to break out their grasp. Chained down by the wrists and ankles, Nina turned her head at the smirking faces of Kazuya and her sister Anna. She struggled against the binds and felt Kazuya's cold presence standing over the top of her. _

"_Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," he said snidely. "You will be placed under cryogenic sleep as part of an experiment." Kazuya then motioned his head at Anna. "Your sister had volunteered to do this as well. So you won't be alone." _

_Nina swallowed deeply. She was to be placed in a deep sleep and it was going to be a while before she would wake up from it. In the first time since her father's death, she was scared. Tears streamed down her face and then the metal slate moved to the side, over blue liquid and Nina could feel the coldness run against the smoothness of her back. It slowly inched over her body as the platform lowered and with one last breath, she held it as her entire body was submerged. It was then exhaled as she felt herself drifting off into deep sleep as her body temperature dropped. _

* * *

Nina jolted up in bed, waking up from her sleep in cold sweat. Looking around with fear in her blue eyes, she then calmed down in realising where she was. Her breathing slowed from those hitched breaths of shock into more controlled breathing. She looked over to her alarm clock, noticing that it was just before dawn, but regardless of the time she knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Instead, she pulled off the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed and buried her face into her hands.

"Fuck Nina, get a grip of yourself," she muttered to herself. "It happened over twenty years ago, get over it."

Since her awakening from cryogenic sleep over two years ago, Nina slowly began to piece together her lost memories. Constantly plagued by the dreams of fighting her son Steve Fox and then attempting to assassinate him, not being able to do it as she didn't want to kill her only child and the visions of her sister and then the images of before she went into deep sleep. It was haunting, she still remembered when they were stripping her down to her skin. Pulling and tugging at her clothes like there was no tomorrow, they tortured her before they took her to Kazuya. But it was only until recently that she was able to remember everything.

Getting up and stripping out of the tank-top and white pyjama shorts that she wore, she changed into the clothes that she fought in the night before and decided the best way to forget her nightmare would be to sweat it out on a punching bag. Maybe some imagination of inflicting pain on someone might make her feel a little better.

Five minutes later she walked across the cold yard to the dojo and entered. Closing the wooden doors behind her, she saw that Jin didn't have much in there. Three large bags ran down the side of the small room, it was lit by six flame torches and a picture of some karate master, from what Nina could see, hung on the far wall. Taking off her shoes and her coat, she went to the nearest bag and cringed a little at the coldness of the wooden floor. She started a few combinations involving spear-hands and sweep kicks and then progressed to more vicious palm strikes, punching and high roundhouse kicks to the head.

Despite the coldness, after a couple of minutes she began to sweat a little. Stopping her assault, she noticed a katana in the corner and went over and grabbed it. Unsheathing it from its holster, she began swinging and spiralling it gracefully in the air. After a moment, she started to move her whole being, pretending to be in a battle with an enemy. It was a beautiful sight, it was as if she was in her own world and fighting her battles. Enemies had always had trouble trying to keep up with her battle, she was too quick and strong, her weapons skill was nothing short of spectacular.

She kept going for ten more minutes and then she brought the katana overhead and then stuck downwards. Nina held that position for a while and then heard a clap from behind her. Spinning around in fear, she brought the sword around and it stopped within an inch of Jin's throat. Her features softened a little and she brought the sword down to her side.

"I thought you're hired to protect me, Nina?" Jin said with a smirk.

Nina's eye's widened a little and she turned away.

"I'm sorry, but dammit why did you have to sneak up on me like that?"

He laughed a little and walked past her to stand in front of the picture. He knelt down with his fist on his hips.

"I was just admiring the skills of my new bodyguard," he replied and then muttered something. Jin placed his fists on the ground and bowed before standing up. "I must say that I was impressed. You've got talent."

Nina smiled a little.

"Thanks, it comes with the job."

Walking to the centre of the room, Jin stood there and took his black singlet off and was left in a pair of blue sweatpants. Nina stood to the side and watched the man in the middle who then brought the heels of his feet together and clasped his left hand over his right and his eyes were now closed. He whispered something and Nina could barely hear it, instead she continued to watch as Jin opened his deep brown eyes and crossed his arms in front of his face and exhaled deeply. Nina suspected that he was about to begin a kata.

Soon after, he started with two lots of double arm techniques and then followed up with blocking with alternate arms in front of his face. They were quick, smooth-flowing movements and it wasn't long until Nina was mesmerised and felt the energy that the kata produced. The kata slowed for a short moment until the intensity began to build, alternating with blocks and punches and then slowing down with tension before the whole quick motions started again. Turning to the side slowly, the speed picked up again like a fire in the wind and this would continue for a short while longer. As she watched, Nina was further entranced by the atmosphere, forgetting everything else, she even forgot the reason why she was down there in the first place.

Jin finished the kata and stood there in that position, leaning back on his left leg and left hand outstretched in front of him. Returning to the original position that he started out in, he relaxed his muscles and looked to the ground. From afar, Nina could see the small beads of sweat that had formed on his chest and that his breathing was shallow. Obviously he had placed his whole being into that one kata. Just like what Jin did to her earlier, she clapped and his head snapped up and looked at her.

"What?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nina smirked and stopped.

"Well I thought that I would give you the same courtesy that you gave me," she said. "Now we're even."

Jin chuckled a little.

"I believe that kata is a great way to cleanse yourself," he explained. "By doing it every morning I can be focussed on what I have to do."

"And what would that have to be?"

There was a look on Jin's face that Nina couldn't fathom at that point of time. Obviously something was on his mind, and she wasn't expecting that at any time soon that he would share it with her. She guessed that she had to trust his intentions.

"All in due time I will tell you," he replied after a while. "But in the meantime, there's some business that I have to attend to at headquarters. Go and change and meet me in the main hall in fifteen minutes."

Jin turned and walked to the door, leaving the blonde woman alone. It wasn't until a minute later that she decided to follow him, but at least she felt remotely better than when she first walked in.

Meanwhile, on a hill outside of the residence a woman in a red cat-suit watched as the blonde made her way across the yard behind the gates. Anna smirked and picked up her radio.

"They'll be coming out soon," she spoke softly. "Keep your position until they leave, then follow them. Leave no survivors."

"_Roger that." _

Clipping the radio back onto her belt, Anna let out a little chuckle. She was too excited about her new job to even sleep, maybe because she felt like she had a score to settle despite her sister beating her in the tournament.

"You're mine bitch," she uttered. "I have been looking for you for months and you're not getting away from me this time."

Fifteen minutes passed by quickly. Jin was down in the main hall, waiting and thinking about what he saw earlier. He realised now that he had made the right choice in choosing Nina to be by his side, the way that she handled that katana with such precision. He figured that if he wasn't too careful that he could even take him out. That wasn't going to be an option. Hearing footsteps nearby, he looked up the stairs and saw what he had been waiting for. Nina changed into a black blouse, short skirt and high heels, she looked like that she was ready for a day at the office.

Jin's eyes widened slightly as she made her way down the steps towards him. Reaching the bottom and standing in front of him, Nina noticed that Jin was staring at her with a weird look on his face.

"Why are you looking at me like that for?" she asked in her usual cold demeanour. Jin felt himself grow a little hot under the collar and quickly looked away.

"No reason, just…we better get going."

Jin quickly turned away and walked towards the exit. As she watched him, Nina couldn't help but smirk at her new boss' awkwardness.

'Thought he wouldn't be one to lose composure,' she thought before following.

* * *

The black limousine was travelling on the main freeway heading towards Tokyo. Traffic was busy as per usual and this had caused congestion, making the traffic flow slower. This caused Nina to become frustrated, knowing that if she had a bike that she would be zooming through the cars. At this rate, they were lucky to even make it to headquarters by the end of the day. Looking at the two men sitting on the other side of her, she couldn't help but ask.

"Is it like this all the time?"

Eddy cast a curious glance at the blonde assassin. Nina could tell from behind his dark sunglasses that he was amused by her question.

"Well we are in one of the busiest cities in the world," he replied. "Hope that answers your question."

Nina snorted and looked back out the window.

"I guess so. I just hate sitting in traffic."

No more was said after that as all traffic stopped moving. Apparently there was an accident just up ahead according to the driver who went and checked the situation, and it would be up to at least an hour before traffic can flow smoothly again. Nina didn't like the situation at all, by just sitting here they could be easily targeted. As she continued to look out the window, she saw a flash in the distance. Her heart jumped a little, feeling the adrenaline jolt through her. Using her instincts, she looked to the other two.

"Get down, now!" she told them and got down low on the ground. Both men looked at each other, confused.

"What do ya mean…" Before Eddy could finish his sentence, a bullet ricocheted through the window, nipping the top of one of his dreadlocks. Finally getting the hint, Jin and Eddy fell to the floor and the gunfire began to increase.

"Shit," Nina cursed and reached down to her thigh, pulling out a handgun from its holster. "First day on the job and we're already caught in the middle of gunfire."

Eddy slipped his hand under the seat and pulled out an automatic rifle.

"We can't stay here," he said calmly. "You two run up ahead and I'll cover you."

Jin kicked open the door and motioned to Nina to follow him. They kept low behind the cars to give them cover. Nina was firing and already knocked down three of the assailants. But it was only a matter of time before they would catch up to them they had to find a fast way out of there.

"Over here!" Jin called out to her. Nina turned around and sprinted towards Jin's location.

He was on a motorbike, already started and ready to go. Jumping onto the bike behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and the bike took off at breakneck speed. Gunshots could still be heard behind them as more of them were behind the duo, on bikes and firing their rounds. They were fortunate that none of the bullets hit them as they continued to weave and dodge between the vehicles.

Turning around so that her back was up against his and her left arm was secured around Jin's right side to keep her on, Nina held her gun up and fired. With the remaining bullets in the magazine, she managed to knock down two and there was only one left following them. She placed her finger on the trigger and…

_Click…click…_

"Dammit!"

Jin glanced over his shoulder at the sound of his bodyguard's cursing.

"What is it?"

Nina turned back around and wrapped her arms around his waist again.

"I'm out of ammo, I should have brought more."

The automatics stopped firing, but when they thought they were in the clear. A loud gunshot was heard and by the time anyone had to react, Nina felt something forceful pierce into her left shoulder. She had been shot.

"Ahhhh! Fuck!" She screamed. Jin looked back quickly, seeing only the blood starting to leave the wound.

"Dammit," he muttered and took an exit ramp off the freeway.

Nina looked back at the enemy, seeing a G-Corp soldier and a person in a red cat-suit.

"That bitch…" Nina muttered. "Stop the bike!"

"Why?"

"Trust me, stop!"

Jin complied and soon they stopped to a screeching halt. Getting off the bike, Nina and Jin watched as their attackers drove up and stopped nearby. The person in red hopped off and pulled off their helmet, revealing her identity. She laughed and pointed at the blonde.

"So you've stopped running," Anna taunted. "At least you've made my job a lot easier."

Jin looked at Nina and then back up at Anna. What was she doing with G-Corporation?

"You couldn't fight me one-on-one, so you had to bring your goons with you," Nina began and shook her head, then clenching her injured shoulder. "You really are pathetic, why are you siding with that bastard anyway?"

Anna let out a girlish giggle.

"Have you ever wondered why you failed to kill him the first time?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, because I was knocked out before I could pull the trigger."

"Exactly, because I was the one who knocked you out," Anna stated, making Nina narrow her eyes at her younger sister. "And you already know the rest. Getting frozen, being pregnant with that bastard son of yours…"

Nina's eyes widened. How in the world did Anna know about that?

"That's enough!" Nina ordered. "Get out of here as the next time I see your face, I will kill you."

Anna giggled and motioned to the soldier.

"As you wish. Next time I won't be holding back." With that, the bike took off and left Jin and Nina there by themselves. Jin looked over to the blonde, who was now sitting on the ground holding her shoulder. Blood seeped through her fingers and he knelt down, taking off his coat and held it over the wound.

"That little bitch," Nina cursed.

"So, she's with my father," Jin said and glanced at her. "Why didn't you kill her?"

Nina shook her head.

"I don't know, probably because she's not worth the effort," she replied, wincing at the pain. "Hence the reason why she didn't die a long time ago."

Jin wanted to know more…about what happened between Nina and Anna, why she was going to kill Kazuya and about her being placed under cryogenic sleep. He was going to ask until…

"Jin!"

The raven-haired man snapped his head up and watched as Eddy ran up to them, with a couple of Tekken soldiers with him. Standing up, he crossed his arms.

"It was G-Corp, wasn't it?"

The tall Brazilian nodded.

"Yes, that's nothing new, boss," he replied and looked down at Nina. "What happened?"

Jin waved his hand.

"No time to explain, we have to get her to the medical wing immediately before she loses too much blood," he explained. "I'll take her, you go with these men to ensure that there were no innocent casualties. Then return to headquarters."

Eddy nodded.

"Yes, boss."

When they left, Jin lifted Nina off the ground with ease and walked her to the motorcycle, sitting her on it before getting on behind her. Powering it up, he took off down the road. Shootings and assassination attempts, they were just a part of his daily life. It was just another day in the office.

* * *

A/N: Not easy being a bodyguard for a man with great power, and Nina found that out the hard way. Oh well, you can't have both of the sisters in a story without having them firing shots at one another. Keep an eye out for the next chapter, I'm in the middle of writing it at the moment.


	3. Flesh and Blood

A/N: Thanks for those that have reviewed, I'm so glad that people are enjoying it, keep them coming :) Anyway, this chapter won't have any action, but Jin will be learning more about his newly hired bodyguard after her run in with a familiar face.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Flesh and Blood**

First day on the job and she already got some action, receiving a gunshot wound to the shoulder, courtesy of Anna. Opening her eyes, Nina saw that she was in some form of infirmary, a white room and only the bed she occupied was in the tiny space. She went unconscious on the way there. But according to the doctor, Jin was very lucky to get her there when he did. If they ended up waiting for help, Nina would had been required to have a blood transfusion to replenish the lost blood.

Trying her best to ignore the pain in her shoulder, Nina tried to sit herself up but felt a hand reach out to stop her. Astonished, she turned her gaze to the person. Jin was sitting there and met her gaze. Her eyes widened before looking away.

"Here, let me help you."

Getting up and placing his hands on both sides of her waist, Jin helped the blonde woman to sit up, her back resting against the wall. Jin sat back down and looked at her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied evenly and looked at him. Groaning in pain, she rolled her head back and closed her eyes. "How long have I been out for?"

Jin looked down at his watch.

"About five hours. They basically operated on you as soon as I got you here to remove the bullet," he replied. "You lost consciousness on the bike due to the blood loss."

Sighing, Nina opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. She had near misses in the past, but nothing like that as usually a bullet would graze her and not to impale itself into her.

"There won't be a dull moment with this job," she said quietly and looked over to him. "So what's our next move?"

Jin stood up and looked at her.

"Rest for now and you will be discharged tomorrow. Then we'll take it from there," he replied before leaving.

* * *

_Five Years Ago_

_Deep, heavy breathing was the only thing heard in that tomb as Ogre's body exploded and then disappeared. Jin relaxed himself, his shoulders dropped as the realisation had set in. He had avenged his mother, just as he promised to himself that fateful day when he sought out his grandfather. But all was not as it seemed…_

_Turning around, his life flashed by in an instant as gunshots were fired and the young man suddenly found himself on his back. The Tekken Force soldiers kept their guns aimed at him as Heihachi himself walked towards his fallen grandson. To Jin's surprise, he was smiling as he raised his own gun and pulled the trigger. It was quick and instant, then Jin's world suddenly turned black. _

_He should have died, but there was a voice in his head. Just like a bad dream, the voice was antagonising him, Jin felt his blood stir. Anger rising and his newfound lifeline, he snapped his eyes open and stood up. The soldiers holding their guns at him were paralysed as Jin's eyes glowed red, markings appeared on his chest, arms and forehead. In an act of rage, the supernatural being swept towards the solders and took them out, sending them flying past Heihachi. The old man's eyes widened and then slowly turned around to see Jin standing there, except that it really wasn't him as he now also had horns sticking out of the sides of his temples. _

"_What the hell…" Heihachi spoke quietly and braced himself. But before he could take any action, Jin had him through a wall and he was falling. Just as he was to hit the ground to an almost certain death, his landing softened as Jin, who had spurted large black wings caught him before flying off towards the moon...  
_

* * *

_Present Day_

_February 6__th__ 2008_

Jin snapped his eyes open, his neck stiff and sore as he realised that he had fallen asleep on his desk. Sitting upright and leaning back, he sighed and yawned. He felt the Devil Gene within him growing stronger, increasing the frequency of his bad dreams. He knew it should have ended that fateful day when he left both Kazuya and Heihachi to die in that temple, he should have taken their lives and then his own to end the cursed bloodline. No, he saw that image of his mother before his very eyes, like there was a guardian angel looking out for him.

But why of all people would she want to stop him from carrying out this deed? He wanted to rid the world of evil, the very thing that his mother was opposed to. But then again, she did fall in love with the Devil himself and then the Devil's spawn was created. Perhaps Jun did see some good in Kazuya, but his own hatred blinded him…well that's what Jin probably had figured out. However, it was too late to turn back and Jin knew that there was another way to end it all, it was just a matter of finding it.

The phone rang next to him, making him snap out of his thoughts. Sitting forward and grabbing it, he spoke.

"What is it?"

"_Sir, it's Lars, one of your officers of the…"_

"Yeah I know, what's your status?"

"_We have successfully taken over Moscow," Lars replied. "We are now awaiting for further orders."_

Jin smirked. He didn't think that the Russians with all their military power would go down so quickly.

"You're on stand-by for now. I'll be there tomorrow morning to address the troops. Just keep things under control."

"_Yes, sir." _

Jin hung up the phone and stood up. He pulled on his long, black leather coat and made his way out of his office. Pulling out his mobile, he dialled Eddy's number.

"_Yes Jin, what's going on?" The Brazilian answered._

"Get the chopper ready, we're going to the airport to fly out to Russia immediately. We're going to pay the troops a visit."

"_Yes boss, are you bringing Nina with you?" _

"Of course, she's my bodyguard. I'm sure she can manage."

Jin terminated the call and pocketed the device, continuing to make his way down to the infirmary.

* * *

Dressing herself, painfully into her clothes, Nina waited out in the main corridor of infirmary as she waited for Jin to come and get her. The doctors had insisted that she would stay away from her duties for at least another week, but she told them that a gunshot injury wasn't going to stop her from doing her job. She laughed a little, Nina had to admit that Anna had a bit of an aim on her.

'Never thought that she would actually hit me,' Nina thought and smirked. 'Next time I'll have to even the score.'

"Miss Williams," a Tekken soldier called to her from the door. "The boss is here to pick you up."

Nina got up and walked out. Jin was outside with another soldier, arms crossed and he leaned up against the wall. He looked up once the door closed behind her.

"We're going to Moscow," Jin said and turned to her fully."We have librated the capital and I'm going to make an address to the troops."

Looking down at her attire, she knew that it wouldn't be suited to cold climate of Russia. Reading her concern automatically, he nodded.

"I'll have someone drop something off at the airport when we get there, we're not due there until the morning," he continued. "But we better get going."

* * *

They walked up to the helipad at the top of the building. The helicopter was starting up and Eddy was standing on the outside.

"We're ready to go," Jin said. "Just make sure we miss the G-Corp building or otherwise there will be hell to pay."

Eddy nodded.

"I've already made it clear with the pilot. We should be at the airport in five minutes."

He and Jin got in first and just as Nina was about to climb up…

"Hey you! The one climbing into the chopper!"

Nina whipped her head around at the voice. She could recognise it from a while ago and it wasn't until she saw who it was, it didn't register. Her eyes widened and she felt her jaw drop for a moment.

'What the hell is he doing here?'

"How the hell did you break security?" she asked exasperated.

The blonde haired man stopped running and was gasping for air. She never thought that she would see him again.

"I...we…we need to talk."

Nina scoffed and narrowed her eyes.

"How did you find me Steve?"

Steve Fox looked at the woman, he noticed the furious fire that spat out her eyes…he had her eyes.

"I saw you yesterday…entering the building in the arms of that bastard you're with," Steve replied and narrowed his eyes at Jin. "He cost me my livelihood and you of all people are willing to work for him. Have you lost your freakin' mind?"

Nina walked over and swept his legs out from under him, placing her heeled foot on his throat. The young man struggled to breathe as she continued to apply the pressure.

"Don't you ever fucking judge me like that ever again," she sneered. "I don't care if you can't box anymore, have you ever considered that people are a lot worse off than you?" She removed her foot and turned her back to him.

Steve slowly sat up and held a hand to his throat.

"I thought you of all people would care. But I guess I wrong, that brunette woman was right about you."

Nina whirled around and glared at him.

"Who was she?"

"Anna Williams. Does that ring a bell?"

Nina sighed and shook her head.

"That no-good little…" She looked up at Steve. "Listen, how about we talk more when I get back. But you better leave before I call security."

Steve sighed and nodded. Nina watched as the young man left before getting into the chopper. Eddy didn't look at her, he decided it was best not to witness the scene. But Jin watched as the blondes confronted one another, there was something between the two of them that he couldn't fathom.

'Maybe there is more to this than it meets the eye,' he thought and continued to gaze at his bodyguard. 'I wonder what it could be.'

* * *

The jet took off the runway and flew into the sky. Soon, people looked like ants when as the aircraft continued to ascend. Jin was on the phone, speaking to one of the executives, while Eddy was gazing at a photograph of a young woman and an older man. Nina saw the photo and recognised the woman, she had fought her before in the fourth tournament. But just watching Eddy's expression, it seemed that he cared for these two particular people deeply.

It wasn't something that she could understand, but she could relate to it in a way. The only person that she had ever cared for died and it was because she cared from them so much that it hurt and never wanted to care or rely on anyone again. Now, she found herself caring for the man sitting in front of her, but she didn't know why she felt like that but somehow she felt drawn to him. But how could she care for someone if she couldn't even care or show concern for her own son, no wonder why Anna had perceived her to be so heartless and callous at times.

"Miss Williams," a stewardess said to her. Nina looked up and looked at the tall red haired woman. "The clothes that Mr. Kazama had requested are in your quarters."

Nina nodded.

"Thank you," she said and got up. Jin watched her as she left and then suddenly changed the conversation with the person on the other end.

"Can you send me through the records for Nina Williams, she was one of the two placed into that cryosleep experiment that was conducted," Jin requested. "None of the computers should have been cleared."

There was the sound of typing coming from the other side of the line.

"_I have located and sent the records to your computer on the plane."_

"Thank you, I'll call you when we land."

Jin hung up and saw that Eddy was looking at him.

"I see that you don't trust your new bodyguard," he said.

Jin shook his head and pulled out his laptop.

"I just want to see something, it has nothing to do with trust."

Eddy scoffed and looked out of the window.

"So how do you know that she was in that experiment?"

Jin looked up at him.

"Just something that heard yesterday, I just want to look at it."

Opening up the laptop and clicking on his mail, he looked at the first one on the list and then clicked on it to open. Before him was what he was looking for.

_Cryosleep Test Subject #1_

_Date: July 21__st__ 1985_

_Name: Nina Williams_

_Gender: Female_

_Age: 22_

_Height: 5'3"_

_Weight: 108lbs _

_Nationality: Irish_

_Details: Frozen on the orders of Kazuya Mishima, current leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Her sister Anna Williams has volunteered to partake in this experiment._

_Progress after six months: Heihachi Mishima had reclaimed the throne and allowed this experiment to continue as the subject is too dangerous to be conscious. The embryo that we had implanted in the subject's womb, due to the orders of our head scientist is developing well. The subject's heart rate is steady and strong. _

_Progress after twelve months: The child was extracted via caesarean while the subject was frozen. A male child, given the name of Steve Fox, who will be adopted out to a British couple as per Mr. Mishima's orders. Also, it had been requested that there will be no more updates to this record. _

Jin closed the laptop and stood up.

"I'm going to see Miss Williams, make sure we're not interrupted."

Eddy nodded.

"Yes boss," he replied and watched as Jin walked away.

* * *

Zipping up the long black boots, Nina stood up and took a moment to gaze at her reflection in the full length mirror. She didn't think at first that Kazama would have taste, but she thought that he actually outdone himself. But unfortunately the pants that he supplied were a size too small, so she had to keep on the skirt she had on and just wore the low-cut long sleeve shirt, the black trench coat that she had buttoned up and a scarf with leopard spots wrapped around her neck. Nina kept her shoulder-length hair loose out its usual ponytail and pulled out a pair of purple-shaded sunglasses which she hung onto her pocket.

She walked into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. Sighing when she finished, Nina gazed into the mirror. Why of all people did Steve Fox decide to track her down? She already had enough trouble trying to keep their lineage a secret that she didn't need him to spill it all out in front of her boss. Yes, she didn't pull the trigger as she didn't want to send her only son to an early grave and to live with it, but she didn't want to attach herself to him either. It was twenty-something years too late to start up any sort of mother-son relationship when she practically missed out on his entire childhood.

And she only had one person to blame.

'Damn you Kazuya…damn you Anna.'

"I see that the clothes fit you ok."

Jumping, Nina saw Jin in the mirror, sitting on the edge of the bed. She turned around and giving him a cold glare.

"Isn't it rude if you don't knock?"

Jin smirked and stood up.

"I guess it just slipped my mind."

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said immediately and to Nina's surprise, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. Her heart began to race and when Jin backed her up against the basin and placed his hands on either side of the basin, Nina's breath hitched in shock. "Why didn't you tell me about what my father did to you? Is that why you're doing this?"

Nina's eyes widened as she began to feel intimidated, something that she hadn't felt for a long time. Closing her eyes and bowing her head, she felt the tears build up.

"How the hell did you find out?"

Jin tilted her chin up with a single finger and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I looked at your records just then. I've read everything, Nina. About you, about Steve Fox…about everything," he replied softly and leaned forward so that his lips were near her ear. His heart, too, started to race. "Was that what Anna was saying to you yesterday?"

Nina's eyes betrayed her then and a couple of streams fell.

"I never knew anything about it until I met Steve because of my amnesia," she said, almost whispering. "It was only until recently that I could remember those last moments of my consciousness. Sure, I was grateful that I retained my youth and I gained an extra twenty years to my life. But what your father did…"

"I can relate. This blood…this fucking blood in my veins, my father's gift…I want to get rid of it, I want it gone."

He removed his head from her ear.

"I don't know why my mother fell for him, but I can't forgive him for giving me this curse," he continued. "But, perhaps you should talk to Steve and explain what happened. Maybe then, this will heal your wound."

Nina nodded and then Jin stood up straight. He opened the door and left the woman alone. She never had anyone other than her father to get that close to her like that before, it was a strange, but yet, a comforting feeling. Maybe Jin was right, it was perhaps time for her to let people get close to her again. She had recovered from many physical wounds, but the emotional injuries still remain.

* * *

A/N: Well of course he was going to find out sooner or later, the experiment was conducted in the facility that is under his control and he can gain access to the records. Ok then, the next chapter will be including the opening scene of Tekken 6 with the soldiers lining up and saluting their leader, but that's all I can say for now or otherwise I would be giving the entire chapter away. Keep an eye out for the next one :)


	4. The Next Step

A/N: Wow, I'm impressed by the amount of reviews that I have received so far, thanks guys much appreciated :) Here is the next chapter and hopefully you'll enjoy it. It's been an absolute pleasure writing for you all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Four: The Next Step**

Snow covered the ground like a sheet draped on a bed, there wasn't any visible sign of the ground beneath, save for the one path that led out of a building and the main runway. The flag on the flagpole flew in the gentle breeze as the crow resting on top of the tower was witnessing possibly the largest military operation known to the world. After recently defeating the Russian military in a month long battle, the sixty thousand soldiers of the Tekken Force 1st Division had managed to liberate the capital and to gain absolute control.

Tanks and heavy armoured vehicles rolled off the back of a plane and soldiers lined up nearby awaiting their next orders. On the path nearby, an entourage walked as a group along the side of the gathering, the men were as still as statues as they made no movement. Jin smiled at this as he looked at his army before picking up the ringing phone in his pocket.

"What is it?"

"_G-Corporation are attacking our base in Mexican desert, what are your orders, sir?" _

Jin sighed. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the enemy would make their move.

"Tell them to hold their ground, we'll send reinforcements. We cannot allow them to win."

"_Yes boss." _

Jin terminated the call and pocketed his phone. From behind, Nina could tell that there was something wrong.

"What's going on?"

Jin shook his head.

"They have finally made their move, attacking one of our bases. We'll make this quick so we can get back to HQ."

"Boss, I can lead a team over there, if you wish," Eddy offered. "I thought that I would go since I helped to take over the area."

They reached a wooden platform. Jin turned around and nodded at the man.

"Do whatever you have to do, talk to the commander here first before you do anything."

Eddy nodded and proceeded to line up in the front row with, who Nina assumed, were officers. She noticed at Eddy went to stand with a blonde haired man, whispering something into his ear. The man nodded and they stared back out to the front.

"Nina."

The assassin looked over at her boss.

"Yes, boss."

"Go and line up in the front row. I don't want to cause too much commotion."

She nodded and went to line up in between two suited men. Jin made his way up onto the platform and scanned around at the troops. His face remained emotionless before saluting to his men, who then return the same courtesy. Lowering his hand, he swallowed and took a deep breath.

"I praise you for your efforts," he began, speaking in a loud enough voice for all to hear. "But hear this, even though this liberation brings us one step closer to complete world domination, we are still far from achieving our goal. We must keep fighting, taking over and liberating nations so that the goal will be met."

Everyone was actively listening to what their leader had to say. As she listened, Nina wondered.

'Goal? What is his plan if it isn't to take over the world?'

"Now, before we can breathe easily, we are currently encountering some problems in our base in Mexico. G-Corporation are trying to derail our mission and we're to stop them at all costs. So most of you will be sent as reinforcement for as the majority of the troops they have diminished, from what I can suspect. But for now, that will be all from me. Dismissed."

Getting down from the platform, Jin started to head up the path. Nina and Eddy joined up with him.

"So what happens now?" Nina asked.

The trio stopped walking and Jin looked up into the sky as the crow from the tower flew overhead.

"Eddy will lead the team to Mexico," he replied and looked at her. "We're going back to Tokyo and plan our next move." He looked over at Eddy. "Have you spoken to Lars yet?"

Eddy nodded.

"Yes, we're going to get the troops organised within the next hour. We should arrive at the battle zone by nightfall."

Jin nodded and looked back up the path and started walking.

"You better hope that this works."

Nina glanced once more at Eddy and began to follow her boss. Eddy watched on as the pair left and he looked down to the ground.

"Captain."

Eddy spun around and saw the blond haired man that he stood next to.

"Commander Alexanderson, how long will it take to dispatch?"

Lars shrugged his shoulders.

"Can't say for sure due to the weather, but I want your team sent out within the next couple of hours."

Eddy nodded.

"Good, I'll go and prepare."

The Brazilian walked off, leaving his fellow soldier to watch.

'Damn, there has to be a way to make Jin see the error of his ways,' he thought. 'They're just about to enter a losing battle. Many men will die because of this…I have to stop it.'

* * *

The battlefield was booming with gunfire, gunning down the enemy as the army advanced. Cannons shot out with a powerful explosion as it roared through the sky, causing a nearby building to explode and shatter into pieces. Shrapnel flew in the air and damages all that surrounded it. From above, G-Corporation helicopters hovered many feet above the ground as soldiers jumped, ready to battle. As the last soldier jumped, a pair of boots stomped to the edge of the doorway before jumping out, with no parachute.

No ordinary person would have survived the fall, instead they would have fallen to their deaths as their bones would have shattered on impact. The man landed and the ground cracked around him, the force of the impact didn't seem to affect him in anyway. Standing tall, Kazuya smirked as he gazed the scene around him. Instantly, he knew that the battle was won.

"Pitiful mortals," he muttered. Sensing a presence behind him, he looked over his shoulder and motioned his head. "Let's finish this."

Anna removed the green helmet that she was wearing and shook out her hair. She smirked and pulled out the handgun that was strapped to her thigh.

"Just like old times," she replied and the two of them sped off into the battle, not hesitating even for a split second as began to take the lives of the enemy.

Nearby, a large cargo plane opened its rear door and even before the door hit the ground, Tekken soldiers charged out, guns firing. The last person that got off and held a radio in his hand, placing it up in front of his mouth.

"Inform the boss that we've landed and already engaged in battle," Eddy spoke clearly.

"_Roger that commander, I'll inform him right away."_

Clipping the handset to his belt and grabbing the automatic rifle strapped to his back, Eddy followed his comrades.

* * *

_February 10__th__ 2008_

…_Two days since the start of the conflict._

It had been two days since they arrived back in Tokyo. As soon as they landed, Jin and Nina went back to HQ. Jin trusted that Eddy would get the job done, he knew that his father would launch an assault, it was only a matter of time. Was he sending many of his men to their deaths? Perhaps, but he had to do his best to protect his empire and he wasn't prepared to allow Kazuya to get in the way of his plans.

Sitting on his throne in the gothic-themed hall, he looked at the large empty space and closed his eyes. Jin began to remember what it was like a year ago, entering this room for the first time and rows and rows of soldiers and executives stood there and watched him like a hawks as their new leader made his way to the throne that his father and grandfather both had sat in previously. He was nervous at first, but soon after he began to make his move and to create the world for what it was in that present day.

If his mother was there to witness her son now, she would be scolding and pleading with him to stop the carnage. But his intentions were pure, and no one knew of them yet. Not even his trusted bodyguard knew of what he really was planning…not just yet.

"Jin, are we just going to sit here in silence or are we going to discuss a plan of action?" Nina asked as she sat in a chair situated in the corner behind him. She stood up and took a few steps toward him.

Jin opened his eyes and looked at her, meeting her gaze. There was something about her that told him that he could trust her, something that he never really could do with anyone before. Sure he had his mother and Xiaoyu, but this connection to Nina…it was something different and he couldn't figure it out. The way his heart pounded against his chest, the knots forming in his stomach when they were in that bathroom together, he never felt like that around anyone before.

So why not tell her about his plan? He could trust her, right?

"Nina, I'm going to let you in on a secret," he replied after a while. "But you have to promise me not to say this to anyone as I plan on keeping it between just the two of us. Understood?"

The blonde nodded and crossed her arms. Jin looked away and straight back down the hall.

"A few weeks ago, I sent Eddy and his men to investigate a temple in Egypt that had become visible within the past couple of months," he explained. "Inside of it lies a powerful being that is said to have awakened."

Nina raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"A powerful being?"

Jin nodded to confirm before continuing.

"Yes. The being is known as Azazel, or the Rectifier, a demon-like force that has been imprisoned inside the temple for sometime."

"So how do you know that this…thing is awake?"

Jin looked at her.

"I can hear it, it speaks to me through my mind…only because I have the Devil Gene, and that influence has only been growing stronger within me since Azazel starting speaking."

"So if you defeat it…"

He nodded and looked away. Nina looked down at the hall as well.

"I will be free from this curse. It had told me that with the negative effects of war, it will be resurrected and also the prophecy of the 'Two-Evil Stars' will come true if the two devils were ever to fight in battle."

Nina's eyes widened and looked down at the young man.

"You mean…you and Kazuya?"

Jin nodded.

"Correct. Which is why I need to do this next move so that I can complete the next step of my plan," he replied and then stood up. "I need to meet my father in battle once again."

"So what are you suggesting?"

Jin looked at her smirked.

"I think it's time to announce the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6."

Nina nodded slowly in agreement.

"That would be a good plan, but how can you be sure that Kazuya will fall for your plan?"

"Trust me, he wouldn't resist the opportunity to face me, but there could be the opportunity for him to lose against someone else." He gave her a serious gaze. "This is where you come in. I want you to enter the tournament, not only to eliminate any threats to me, but also to ensure that my father has the opportunity to face me."

"So what do you want me to do?" Nina asked, sounding surprised. "Do you want me to fix the fights or something?"

Jin averted his gaze from her and stood up.

"I'm sure that you'll know what to do," he said and started to walk before he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Come, we'll go and make the announcement."

* * *

The ground was stained with the blood of fallen soldiers, who were unfortunate enough to come to their deaths. Both sides had lost numbers, but it was the G-Corporation that had the upper-hand as the Tekken Force had suffered heavy casualties. Kazuya smiled at this as he sent another man to his death in a great force of brutality as he unleashed a powerful combination.

'Victory is inevitable,' he thought as he walked further into the bloodshed.

Nearby, Eddy fired the last of his rounds, knocking more of the enemy down before jumping down into the trench in front of him. Throwing his rifle away, he pulled out the 9mm that was strapped to his leg and stood up, firing away. They gave the handguns to the soldiers as a last resort in case they had no other weapons to use, the downside of it being that there was one round and Eddy was running out fast.

_Click…click…_

"Dammit!" Eddy screamed and threw the gun into the ground. Now it lay forgotten, covered in a mixture of mud and the blood that came running from Eddy's arm, caused by a bullet that scraped him as it shot past.

Taking cover once again, Eddy picked up his radio and with a shaking hand held it up to his mouth.

"Situation has turned critical! We need to get out of there…Hello…" The radio cut out. "Shit! What now?"

"Captain!" Eddy looked down the trench and saw a soldier crawling beneath the gunfire and explosion nearby. Stopping next to him, the soldier handed Eddy his handgun. "What now?"

Eddy sighed and looked down in between his legs. He knew that they were going to lose the battle, there was no point on staying there and further risking the loss of his men.

"We're going to retreat," he replied after a while. "Send a radio message around and we'll make our exit."

"But, there has been no order of a…"

Eddy snapped his gaze at the soldier and narrowed his eyes.

"I don't care, we're finished! We cannot fight back like this, we have to back out now!"

The soldier nodded and grabbed his radio. Eddy sighed and rubbed the sides of his temples.

'Jin's going to murder me for this…I'm sorry master, I failed you…'

* * *

Steve was wandering around the streets of Tokyo. His mind wandered back to what happened the other day, on that helipad. Sure he left his friends behind back in America, but he wanted to get some answers from the very person that gave him his genes. Yes, he was indeed a creation of the corporation that she worked for, but since meeting her during the fourth tournament and then when they saw one another outside of his hotel, there was one thing that was always in his mind…

Why didn't she try to look for him in the first place? Who was his father…Hell! There was just so much that he wanted to ask her. He faced Anna in the last tournament, in which she defeated him and went on to face Nina.

_One year ago…_

"_Hmm…you look like someone that I know," Anna said as she looked up and down at the blonde man in front of her. Steve raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. _

"_Uhh…sorry, but do I know you?" _

_Anna giggled girlishly and placed a hand over her red lips. _

"_Oh, my apologies. Where were my manners?" she replied and then winked at him. "I'm Anna Williams, and I'm going to be the one who'll win this match." _

_Steve smirked and then got into his stance. _

"_I don't think so, I'm on a quest and I cannot fail." _

_Anna shook her head and got into her fighting stance._

"_Hmm…I don't think so little boy, I have to win this round so I can go and beat that bitch that I consider a sister." _

_Steve's eyes widened. He had heard that last name before, in the last tournament._

'_Williams…they can't possibly be sisters, can they?' _

"_Hey, is your sister blonde-haired, blue-eyed and always dressed in purple?"_

_Anna must have looked shocked at the description as she moved out of her fighting stance. Steve did the same as the two met gazes again. _

"_Yes that's her. Why?"_

_Steve bowed his head. _

"_Because…she's my mother, she gave birth to me about twenty years ago."_

_Anna's eyes widened. So Nina had a son when she was in cryosleep? No wonder why Anna could see the resemblance upon noticing him the first time. Smiling at her newly found nephew, she got back into fighting stance. At least she now had the opportunity of destroying something that was carrying her sister's genetics. _

"_Well don't bother going to her. She doesn't care for you, or for anyone for that matter as she only cares for herself." _

_Steve narrowed his eyes at her and got back into fighting stance. Even though he didn't know Nina that well, he didn't like the tone that Anna used when she referred to his mother. _

Snapping out of the memory, a large arm wrapped around the top of his shoulders. Looking up, he recognised the hardened facial features of Paul Phoenix. Smiling weakly, Steve removed the big man's arm and took a step back.

"Paul, didn't expect you get here so soon," he said. "Why are you here so early?"

Paul laughed and threw his arms out, as if he was expecting to catch something.

"Well you decided to run off with out tellin' either me or Marshall and we hadn't heard from ya for two weeks now," he replied and fixed up his leather jacket. "So what's the deal?"

Steve shook his head.

"Too hard to explain, Paul. Maybe I'll tell you guys some other time…Where's Marshall?"

Paul shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me, probably thinkin' of another training routine for us…Fuckin' hell, it'll probably be worse than the last time." He looked across the street, noticing some sort of bar. Grabbing the British man's arm, he pulled. "Come on, we're gonna grab a drink while we're here."

Once they got inside the bar, they sat themselves at the bar and ordered a couple of beers. As Paul looked around the smoke filled room, with shattered glass covering the floor and tables, his attention instantly went to the caged octagon situated on the other side of the room.

"Oi, bartender!" Paul called out as he looked over his shoulder. "You hold fights here regularly or what?"

The bartender brought over their beers and placed them on the counter.

"Yeah, almost every night. Why do you ask?"

Paul shrugged his shoulders and turned around, now facing the counter.

"Can anyone enter?"

"Pretty much. The other night we had some blonde haired woman in there. Defeated eight men inside at the one time, about forty overall for the night."

Steve's eyes widened and looked at the bartender.

"Does she come here often?"

The man behind the bar laughed, perhaps he only just heard that same question not long ago.

"The same question was asked the other day. Rumour has it that she now is in league with that Kazama guy, she usually comes here a few nights a week. She's due here tomorrow."

Steve nodded and looked at Paul.

"We're coming back here tomorrow night."

"Why, so you can perve on some broad? Well then…" He looked at the bartender. "Sign me up to fight. I'll take anyone on!"

"_We're sorry to interrupt this programming, but there is an important announcement from the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu." _

The trio looked around to the television behind the bar, the picture displaying Jin Kazama and a blonde haired woman that both Steve and Paul recognised in an instant. Jin was sitting in a throne while Nina stood beside him.

"_To all the fighters of the world. This is an open invitation to compete in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, starting in exactly one month. Enter and prove your worth to face me, are you up for the challenge?" Jin announced and leaned forward a little in his chair. "Come and prove that you really are the best fighter in the world." _

The broadcast cut out and Steve bowed his head.

"Mother…" he muttered and Paul and looked at him.

"What was that?"

Steve looked up and closed his eyes.

"Nothing. We better go and find Marshall."

He got up and left, Paul watched on and pointed at the two forgotten beers on the counter.

"C'mon man, we just got here!" Paul slammed his fist on the counter-top and sighed. "Fuck he can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes."

* * *

A/N: So the next tournament is just around the corner and Jin has finally revealed his intentions to someone, but obviously he hasn't told Nina the whole plan, yet. Keep an eye out for the next chapter as I have a feeling there will be a development in the relationship of the two main characters.


	5. Bar Brawl

A/N: The website wouldn't allow me to update the story due to some type 2 error or otherwise this chapter would have been up earlier. Anyway, this was my favourite chapter to write so far. Special thanks to those who have reviewed and have added this to their favourite stories, you are giving me the will to write. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and keep those reviews coming.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Bar Brawl**

_February 11__th__ 2008_

That morning, Eddy arrived back in Tokyo. Instead of going to his apartment, he decided to go straight to headquarters and inform Jin of the failure. He figured the sooner that Jin knew, the more time he would get in resting his tired, fatigued body. But that was the least of his concerns at the moment, Eddy felt that he had failed his master, who was being held in the advanced medical facility underground. After the fifth tournament, Eddy had approached Jin shortly after the latter was initiated as the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu.

_One year ago…_

_Eddy was sitting on the other side of the desk, nervous as the darkened gaze of Jin Kazama looked at him. He thought that if Jin continued to stare at him like that, he could burn a hole straight through him. But he had no choice but to come here, his master's life depended on it, even though he risks Christie hating him for it. _

"_Please, don't punish my master and allow him to die," Eddy pleaded. "I will do anything just to ensure that he'll get the best chance of beating this disease and your technology is the only option left." _

_Jin continued to hold his gaze, never wavered for a second. He was about to deny this man of his request, but after seeing this man in hand-to-hand combat, Jin figured that he could be of some use. _

"_Fine then, I will pay for your master's treatment," he said finally, slightly lifting the spirit of the Brazilian. Jin leaned forward a little. "But I want you to become a member of the Tekken Force and serve as a captain. I'll hold my end of the deal just as long as you're willing to hold yours." _

_Eddy sighed and bowed his head. By doing this, he would have to leave Christie again after he had sworn to never leave her again. Also, he has to move her own grandfather away from her just to ensure that he lives, she wouldn't forgive him, but then again, she wouldn't forgive him if he didn't find a way to save his master's life. He had no choice. _

"_I'll do it," Eddy replied after a while and looked up. "My master, is resting in a hospital in Brazil." _

_Jin nodded. _

"_I'll send a team over there to retrieve him." _

_Eddy glanced back down at the ground and closed his eyes. _

'_Forgive me Christie, but this is for the best.' _

He snapped out of the memory as the elevator sounded to indicate that he had reached the top floor, where Jin's office was situated. The door slid open and he walked out, making his way towards the door at the end of the corridor. As he got closer, he started shaking and sweating from his nervousness, afraid that Jin might actually cut the deal. When he almost reached the door, he was stopped.

"Eddy," Nina's voice came from nearby.

He stopped and looked at the ground, not noticing the blonde woman approaching him. Nina stopped by his side and watched as the usually cool, calm and collected man was shaking. Obviously she knew that something went wrong.

"Dammit, what happened?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

Eddy looked at her with fear.

"The mission was a failure, we got wiped out when G-Corporation reinforcements arrived," he replied, quietly. "I made the decision to retreat even though there was no formal order to do so. I'm so sorry."

Nina slapped her forehead. Jin wasn't going to be impressed as this was the last thing that he needed.

"Shit, and Jin's not in a good mood after hearing those rumours."

"What rumours?"

Nina removed her hand and placed it on her hip.

"Didn't you hear?" Eddy shook his head and she continued. "There's a rumour going around that half of the Tekken Force that took over Russia are rebelling against the Zaibatsu."

"Damn, when did this happen?"

The assassin sighed.

"We just heard it a couple of hours ago, so now chances are we have another enemy to deal with." She looked at the man in front of her up and down. "You better go and rest, I'll inform him of what happened. I don't think you're in the condition to confront him."

Eddy sighed and headed back down the corridor. Nina turned around and prepared herself for the devil that was waiting inside. This was going to be hell.

* * *

"What do you mean that he's not available for contact?" Jin asked over the phone, the tone of his voice tells that he wasn't too impressed. "Where the hell is he?"

"_I don't know, sir. Commander Alexandersson didn't indicate where he was going, nor did Lieutenant Tougou." _

Jin's jaw tightened upon hearing this. Not only the commander has gone missing, but also his lieutenant.

"Call me back when you find out more."

Slamming the phone down, Jin sighed heavily and leaned back. For the majority of the day he had tried getting in contact with Lars, but failed and now with the rumours of the upcoming rebellion, he realised that Lars might have had something to do with it. This hadn't done much for the mood that he was in, people had decided that it was best to avoid his office so that they didn't have to feel his fury just in case they did something to set him off. It was a wonder what a man with such power was capable of.

The door of the office opened and Jin glanced over, watch as his bodyguard walked towards his desk. The expression on her face told him that it was going to be more bad news. He sighed and leaned forward.

"What is it?"

Nina sighed and shook her head.

"Eddy arrived back and reported on the current situation in Mexico," she replied. "I'm sorry, but G-Corporation had wiped out the entire army and Eddy made the decision to retreat."

Jin gritted his teeth and slammed a clenched fist onto the desktop, making the blonde woman in front of him jump back. At least she was the one that told him and not Eddy, the poor man would have fallen to the ground in fear.

"Dammit, not only we have lost thirty thousand men to rebellion, we've just lost more territory because of weak leadership!"

"Jin, it wasn't Eddy's fault that they lost," Nina reassured and crossed her arms. "G-Corp sent reinforcements at the last minute when Eddy's team were at their most vulnerable."

Jin stood up and glared at her.

"Where is he?"

"He's resting back at his apartment."

Jin removed his gaze and started walking to the exit. Sensing that he might go and do something that he may regret, Nina rushed to the door and blocked it. Jin stopped and looked to the ground, Nina could see his chest heaving through his half-done up shirt, showing off his toned chest.

"Out of my way," he ordered. The assassin however stood her ground and shook her head.

"I don't think you going over there in rage will help the situation," she told him straight and without hesitation. "Let him rest, leave it for a couple of days and then we can discuss how to fix this."

Jin tightened his jaw and in an instant he thrust his hand out, seizing her throat. Nina gasped as she felt his fingers tighten around her slender neck. What was wrong with him?

"Jin…what are you…"

She looked at him, fearing what he was going to do with her. He looked up and suddenly, Nina understood what was going on. Jin's eyes were not its usual dark brown, but instead they were crystal white.

'The Devil…' she thought as she continued to struggle. 'I've got to calm him down.'

"Jin, please…let me go…" Nina pleaded, grabbing onto his wrist to try and remove his hand. But it was no use, his strength was superhuman. "…Come back to your senses…"

Suddenly, his eyes returned to normal upon hearing her plead. Jin then evaluated their current situation, noticing that he had her up against the door with his hand around her throat. He gasped before loosening his grip so that she could move away. Holding her throat, Nina's eyes widened in shock at the man in front of her.

"Jin…"

He bowed his head and leaned it up against the door.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he replied. "I wasn't myself and I…"

She walked up to him and placed a hand onto his shoulder. Looking at her and meeting her gaze, Jin was surprised that she would even approach him after what he almost did to her.

"That's alright, maybe I shouldn't have said anything," she said to him softly.

Jin stood up straight and turned to her. Moving her hand away from her throat, Jin began to examine the area and noticed that there was a small bruise forming on her porcelain skin from where his hand was. Touching the delicate area with nothing but the tips of his fingers, Jin noticed that Nina closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Nina felt him remove his hand after a while and met his eyes.

"You really want to get rid of this thing inside of you, don't you?"

Jin nodded and sat down in a nearby chair, slumping forward and burying his face into his hands. When Nina saw this, she felt her heart drop in sympathy as the young man in front of her. She too could relate to what he's going through as they both had been a victim of his father. Nina was placed inside a frozen prison for nineteen years because of him, while Jin was burdened with the curse that Kazuya had passed on down upon him. Amazingly enough, she could understand almost everything about him because it had happened to her. They both lost someone that they loved when they were both young, both don't get along with family members, appear to being numb to feel any form of human emotion...the list was never-ending and somehow, she seemed to be drawn to him.

"If I feel any sort of emotion, it taunts me and I hate not being able to feel anything," he explained and sighed. "I can't even feel anger towards my father or otherwise the devil within awakens and people always end up getting hurt."

He looked at her and continued.

"But the strange thing is, the other day on the plane when we were talking. Emotions came back to me, but the devil still remained dormant. I don't understand why."

Nina sighed and placed a hand on her hip.

"I don't know either because I'm not an expert on the topic," she said calmly before smirking. "Perhaps I have that sort of calming influence on people."

Jin smiled at her and stood up. There certainly was something about that woman that calmed him down, the only other person to ever do that was his mother. But the connection that Jin shared with Nina, somehow he felt that it went much deeper than that. The way that his heart pounded and his throat constricted when they were on the plane, the never had felt like that around a woman before. They were both complex people, but they could easily read one another like a book. It was comforting to know that there was someone who cared and Jin felt like that he was drawn to her, that he trusted her with anything and what surprised him the most was how quick these feelings have developed in such a short period of time.

"Maybe so, but that didn't stop me grabbing you just now," he replied and scratched the back of his head. "I should take the rest of the day off and clear my head."

Nina nodded.

"You should come out later, I'm due to fight at that bar again, that should make you relax."

Jin nodded. Maybe watching some fights will take his mind off things.

"That might be good. In the meantime, we'll go back to the penthouse and relax for a while."

* * *

The bar was crowded that night, mostly because it was the usual fight night. Practically it was every fighter for themselves as soon as they enter the octagon and on occasion a person dies from either a broken neck or internal bleeding. This particular place because of this had claimed the name of the 'Octagon of Death'.

Since the war had started, many of the world martial art and fighting organisations had to stop and as a result placing many out of work. Due to this, many fighters had either decided to retire or to fight in the various underground fighting tournaments around the world. Tokyo had become the world's capital in underground fighting and this bar was the one of the largest meets for fighting. The bar was making a lot of money as there was an entrance fee for both spectators and fighters.

A trio walked in and instantly became entranced by the atmosphere. Paul adjusted his black fighting gloves and cracked his neck side to side.

"Here we are boys!" He said loudly and threw his fist in the air. "Tonight is the night that you'll see me walk away as champion!"

Marshall Law placed his hand on his friends shoulder and shook his head.

"Looks like that you've got your work cut out for you," he said as he gazed around at the fighters near the octagon. "But don't get overconfident."

Paul laughed and shook away his hand.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me! I defeated Ogre the first time and he was much stronger than these jackasses!"

"I reckon you'll have trouble against me," a female voice said from behind him. Steve and Marshall looked around while Paul kept looking ahead.

Nina stood there with Jin, with a smirk planted across her face. Law remembered this woman, losing to her about twenty-something years ago in the second tournament. He remembered how she broke his leg, forcing him to forfeit the fight. He certainly hoped that Paul wouldn't have to face her as she knew how to kill a man in at least thirty different ways.

"Paul Phoenix," Nina continued. "It's nice to see you again, you haven't changed a bit."

Paul smiled and turned to her.

"Well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in," he mocked and pointed at Jin. "And look at who she brought."

Jin smirked and shook his head.

"Your arrogance amazes me. But trust me, you'll find that it won't provide any favours when you fight."

Paul roared out in laughter and Steve looked at him.

"Paul, maybe you should back out while you can."

Nina looked over at her son as the others were distracted by Paul's amusement. Thinking back to what Jin said to her on the plane, she figured that it was probably better to talk to him so that she could move on. This was the perfect opportunity.

"Steve, why are you with this idiot anyway?" she asked him. Paul stopped laughing and looked at her with malace. She met his gaze and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Trust me, you're a joke and you better pray that you won't have to fight me. I won't be holding anything back."

The large man was frozen to the spot by those words of ice and all he could do was watch her and Jin push past him. The trio turned around and watched as the two approached the bar.

"Man, she got you there," Steve said. "I would take her advice."

Paul snorted and crossed his arms.

"Fuck her, she can't push me around like that!" He exclaimed and turned to Law. "Come on, you're gonna help me to prepare!"

Both Paul and Law went toward the octagon while Steve took his place over at the bar, ordering a beer and paying his full attention to the octagon as the first two fighters made their way in. Picking up and sipping on his drink, Steve soon began to think about what to do now. Both he and Nina were in the same venue and this could be one of the few opportunities in which he could try and talk to her. But was she willing to do the same?

The feel of fabric went across him and he looked over to see Jin settle himself next to the British man. He ordered a drink and avoided the blonde man's gaze, but he did speak.

"I know about you and Nina," he said clearly before shifting his eyes at Steve. "She's willing to talk to you. I confronted her after the incident on the helipad."

Steve must have looked shocked, because he was. Why of all people would Jin Kazama would care about something like this? Steve looked away and down at his drink.

"Why did you do that?" he asked coolly.

"Because, it's never too late to make amends," Jin replied. "You may call me a hypocrite, but what my father and Heihachi did to me, it's beyond making amends for. But at least you can gain closure with your mother and she will be able to breathe easy as she too was a victim of my father."

"Nice to know that somebody is also a victim of that bastard," Steve said and drank more. "Even though I had destroyed that laboratory, I can't forget what he did."

Jin smiled slightly and looked towards the octagon.

"Hmm, looks like your friend managed to get a victory."

Inside the octagon, Paul stood triumphant as he handed down his sixth win in a matter of minutes. Smiling, he looked over at Law and gave him a thumbs-up.

"See, what did I tell ya! I'm the best!"

"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you."

Paul watched as Nina walked inside the ring, dressed in silver leather suit that left her sides, legs and most of her front exposed. She approached him while adjusting her red, elbow length leather gloves. The crowd went wild as they watched their champion in that attire. She cracked her neck and looked up and down at him.

"This is going to be fun," she mocked. "Looks like you have to beat me in order to be crowned the new champion."

Paul laughed and got into fighting stance.

"This should be easy. You'll be down in under ten seconds, beggin' for mercy."

Smirking and fixing up her ponytail, Nina got into her fighting stance and gazed harshly at him. Once they were ready, the buzzer sounded and the fight started. Paul went straight at her without hesitation and grabbed her into a headlock. He smiled and held her in position and ran towards the cage. Before her head could connect to the wire, Nina flipped her body upside down, her feet landing on the cage and rebounded of it, releasing herself from his grasp. Once she was out, she swept his legs out from under him and Paul fell heavily onto the ground.

Groaning in pain, he glared at her aggressively and got back up onto his feet and rushed to her again, ready to strike. Swiftly and quickly, Nina dodged his attack and placed a well-timed kick into his ribs before jumping up and placing a knee to the side of his head. His head whipped to the side and instantly Paul held his injured jaw.

"You fuckin' bitch!"

He punched, but missed as Nina ducked and his fist went straight into the steel wire. Retracting his hand, Paul hissed in pain and held his hand, giving Nina the perfect opportunity. Before he could see it coming, Nina planted her Blonde Bomb perfectly square on his chest and sent him backwards. Paul gazed up at the ceiling and tried to get up, but he felt as if something was restricting him, it was all over.

Nina stood up straight and sighed, running a hand along her ponytail and then smirked down at the fallen opponent.

"That's my quickest victory yet," she stated and made her way to the exit.

As she got out, the crowd applauded their reigning champion as she walked over to the bar to claim her prize.

"Damn girl, you are unstoppable," said the bartender as he handed Nina her winnings.

Nina smiled and walked toward the change rooms until a voice boomed over the cheering crowd.

"Hey, c'mon that was unfair! I was just about to get up and finish you!"

Nina turned around and watched as Paul was limping towards her, Law was running up beside him and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Paul, just let it go…"

Paul growled and swung the smaller man off of him and prodded a finger into the woman's shoulder.

"I demand another round."

Nina scoffed.

"You really are pathetic. Why don't you just leave before you embarrass yourself even further," she replied in a cool demeanour and continued her way to the change room, but Paul stopped her by reaching out to her shoulder. He was about to strike when he felt someone tap at his shoulder.

"Hey, let her go."

Paul rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder.

"And what do you think you're…" Before he could finish his sentence, Paul felt a powerful fist connect with his jaw and his crumpled to the ground.

Nina spun around and saw Jin standing above Paul, his fist was clenched. Grabbing onto his jaw, Paul got up and glared at the man.

"You bastard!"

Paul swung a punch at Jin, who then sidestepped and Paul ended up hitting a large man that stood there. Hitting him, the tall, white muscular man turned around and stared at Paul with narrowed eyes before throwing a punch and knocked Paul backwards and over the counter. From nearby, Law ran up and performed an uppercut and knocked the person that hit Paul into the air. Then in an instant, the entire bar went into a riot and people began fighting the nearest person.

During that time, Nina had rushed into the change room to grab her things and joined Jin again. They had to get out of there.

"Can you see a way out?" She asked him before knocking a person unconscious with a kick to the head. Jin scanned around to the exit, but saw that it was blocked.

"Hey! This way!" Steve's voice called out from behind them. Nina and Jin turned around and saw him standing to a door next to the bar.

Rushing over there and past him, they ran out and were followed out. Outside, Paul and Marshall were sitting on the ground, both wearing wounds from their fights. Steve walked up and knelt down beside them.

"I don't think it'll be wise for any of us to be in there when the authorities arrive. This sort of thing is illegal," Steve stated and stood up, looking at the duo. "Can you help me get them to a taxi?"

About five minutes of walking through the alley and they were back out in the street. Steve and Jin settled Paul down against the streetlight while Nina helped Law down to the ground.

"Cheers guys, I can take it from here," Steve said and smiled. Nina stepped forward and looked at her son.

"Steve, I just wanted to say, when we saw each other that day after the tournament, I was planning to kill you," she explained and sighed. "But I didn't, because I found out that you were my son. If I knew that before I accepted the contract, I would have declined it."

"But you didn't know because of your amnesia," he said. "I read about it in the information that I received."

Nina closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry if I didn't know about your existence, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm a cold-blooded assassin and this is a life that I don't want to drag you into."

Steve smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. Looking up at the unfamiliar contact, Nina gazed into her son's eyes and reached up to grab his hand that was on her shoulder.

"I don't care about what you are, I'm just glad that I could finally meet my actual mother. Now I have some closure," he replied as a taxi pulled up behind him. Removing his hand, he turned his back to her.

"Steve, we'll see each other again someday," Nina said to him. "It's maybe too late to build bridges, but I think it'll be better to discuss everything under better circumstances."

Steve turned around and nodded.

"Are you entering the tournament?"

"Yes, are you?"

"Probably. Be careful."

Nina laughed a little and smiled.

"Trust me, what you saw tonight was only a taste of what's to come."

Steve and the two men on the ground all sat on the back seat of the taxi and the vehicle went down the road. Jin and Nina looked at each other and headed down the opposite direction.

"So, do you feel better?" he asked her.

"I guess I can say it gave me closure," she replied before looking at him. "How are you going?"

Jin smiled a little and put his hands in his pockets.

"It certainly has put my mind off things for a while."

She looked away and reflected back to what just occurred. Now she could finally breathe easy now that her secret was out in the open, it actually felt good to her to allow someone in and to tell someone. Looking over to Jin, she was thankful for him encouraging her to summon the strength to make it possible. But if she was to have any form of a mother-son relationship with Steve, it was going to take a long time to accomplished. They were both absent from each others lives for twenty-one years, but was it possible to make up for that absence?

'Best not to say thanks, yet. But I will thank him eventually,' Nina thought as she continued to look at her boss as they continued to walk towards the waiting car at the end of the street.

* * *

Meanwhile, a large gathering of soldiers stood at alert inside an abandoned warehouse in Moscow. Thirty-thousand Tekken Force soldiers looked on as their commander stood before them, scanning around with pride and his lieutenant walked up to him.

"Lars, what's our next move?"

Lars held a steady gaze and crossed his arms.

"Now, the rebellion begins," Lars replied. "With the commotion of the tournament, this will provide perfect opportunities to strike."

'They won't be expecting it,' he thought. 'Now we just need a plan.'

* * *

A/N: The outfit that Nina wore for her fight was the one used in Death by Degrees during the opening movie. You all probably thought that something romantic would have happened between the two of them in this chapter, but don't worry as I have the feeling it will happen somewhere between now and the start of the tournament, I wanted to show how they can trust and comfort one another :) Keep an eye out for it.


	6. Tension

A/N: I have decided to upload this chapter at the same time as the other one just in case I get that 'error 2' thing and making it unable for me to upload. Anyhow, for those who were expecting something more to happen in the last chapter, you won't disappointed in this one, and no it's not a LEMON, but expect one to be posted real soon. Anyway, enjoy it and thanks again for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Tension**

_February 18__th__ 2008_

One week had passed since the bar brawl. Soon after, the authorities had declared that all underground fighting was to be banned as a way to lessen the amount of violence around the city. The bar that was caught in the middle from the other night's riot was shut down immediately, along with many others that had been found to host these events. Now with nowhere to go, the fights were moved to back allies, underground car parks and other secluded areas in which regular people wouldn't go to on a late night.

Fighters and spectators were starting to find people to blame for the incident, the owners of the venues wanted to exact revenge as they lost their livelihoods. At first it seemed that they were blaming each other over it, until they realised what happened during that first brawl, and who was involved. An unknown fighter had found out that Jin Kazama had added the fuel to the already flame of fury that was burning within Paul Phoenix and punched him, causing the entire place ended up in a mass of punches and adrenaline. Plus, to add to Jin's constant growing list of enemies, this unknown fighter had created a resistance group of like-minded fighters that want to stop him.

Even though a night out watching a few fights had eased Jin's frustration, the tension was still there and it was tightening, constricting like a cobra wrapped around its prey. Now he had two resistance groups going against him, a powerful corporation and multiple bounty hunters and assassins who were out for his blood just to earn some money. Yes indeed, things were certainly going well for him, all of this negative energy in the world was really going to help with his plan and to further shake Azazel's blood.

But perhaps, with G-Corporation's attack in Mexico, it would be time to retaliate back, but he was going to do it in the most unusual way.

Dialling a number and holding his cell phone to his ear, Jin waited as he listened to it ring.

"_Yes boss, what can I do for you?" _

"I'm sending you with a team to retrieve a group of men, I will send my bodyguard with you to help identify them," Jin replied.

"_Yes boss." _

Jin canceled the call and watched as Nina walked up towards his desk.

"What was that about?"

Spinning around on his chair and looked at her, Jin smirked and leaned back.

"I have an assignment for you, involving a certain three friends of ours," he replied, continuing to gaze at her from head to toe. "You will be accompanied by a special unit."

Nina raised a curious brow, knowing who he was referring to.

"Don't tell me you want those two bumbling idiots, and Steve to come here?" she questioned and scoffed. "What the hell do you want with them?"

"Trust me, they might be of some use to us. G-Corporation won't be expecting it."

Nina sighed.

"You want me to go get them, don't you?"

Jin nodded.

"Yes, but try and bring Mr. Phoenix here in one piece."

Nina chuckled. She could see it now, trying to drag Paul Phoenix's ass into headquarters was going to be a riot. Cursing, screaming and restraining against her will, this was defiantly an opportunity that she wasn't going to pass up.

"I'll bring him here, but I can't guarantee that it'll be in one piece."

Jin watched her as she left. With her being around him all day, it wasn't making things easier in relation to the tension that he felt around her at the moment. It had been like that since that day when he confronted her about Steve, but the thing that surprised Jin the most was how quickly he had become drawn to her. Long blonde hair when let loose draped magnificently along her shoulders, blue eyes that could freeze even the most powerful man to the spot, why did he have so much trouble trying to deal with it. She was his bodyguard, but he couldn't…he wondered what she was thinking.

'She never stops to amaze me,' he thought. 'But what is this I'm feeling, I know I shouldn't but…'

Meanwhile, outside the office Nina had just closed the door behind her and sighed as she leaned her back up against it. Since that day when Jin confronted her, she began to evaluate the situation that they were in. A tiny bathroom that could barely fit two people, hands on the basin either side of her and their lips were only millimetres apart. Her heart pounded like crazy and her throat constricted. Yes, she was tempted to close that small gap just put herself out of her misery as she hadn't been with a man for a very long time, before she went into cryosleep and it was only until recently when she got close to Jin that she began to feel the need for another human to touch, to hold her…

'Dammit!' She screamed in her mind and slapped her forehead. 'I seriously need to get laid. Anybody, just please put me out of my bloody misery.'

Nina had never been the sort of woman, unlike her sister, who would throw herself at any man. She only had in her lifetime only two or three partners since her first-time, but she had never committed as they were indeed her assassination targets and this was the only way to accomplish her task. But with Jin, it was something different and she just couldn't understand why she just couldn't come out and…

'Ok, I've had enough of thinking about this for one day,' she thought once again and made her way down the corridor. 'Time to do this job so I can go and soak in that hot tub when we go back to the mountains tonight.'

The elevator opened as she approached and she saw Eddy walk out. But as soon as he placed a foot out the door, Nina pushed him by the chest and she pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Uh…what are we doing?" he asked her, confused. Nina smiled at him slightly and crossed her arms.

"We're going to gather up a small team," she replied and Eddy knew by the grin on her face that she was up to no good. "We're going to pay some people a visit." She reached into the pocket of her black jacket and pulled out her phone, dialling a number and held it up to her ear.

"_Miss Williams, what I can I do for you?"_

"I want you to find out which hotel that Steve Fox is staying at. Call me back as soon as you do."

"_No problem, shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes." _

She hung up and pocketed her phone. The elevator reached ground level and the two walked out.

* * *

"Ohhh…ahhh," Paul moaned as he was sprawled out on the bed in the tiny hotel room that he shared with Steve and Law. He had been like that since the bar brawl one week ago, refusing to get up as he constantly complained of being sore.

Steve looked up from the magazine that he was reading and looked at the large man from the chair he was sitting on in the corner of the room. Sighing, he rolled his magazine and threw it, hitting Paul's feet.

"Seriously, can you please stop that," he demanded. "It's getting quite bloody annoying."

Paul flipped the younger man the bird and continued to moan.

"Hey, you would be doin' the same if you were in this position," Paul replied in an aggressive manner. "Besides, it's that asshole and that blonde bitch that got me in this…"

Steve narrowed his eyes and walked over, grabbing the larger man's legs and pulled him off the bed. In pain, Paul spoke every curse word under the sun at the boxer who then spat out words of fire.

"Don't you ever call my mother a bitch, ever!"

Paul looked at him with widened eyes. Damn, to him Nina looked as if she was old enough to be Steve's sister.

"What? You gotta be bloody kiddin' me?"

"Guys, can we discuss our plan for the tournament?" Law asked from nearby as he was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. "Then you can continue on your little…discussion afterwards."

Both men sighed and Steve was just about to sit down when the door to the room was suddenly kicked down. Men in black suits ran in, pointing guns at the three men in the room. The three of them must have been terrified as there were at least eight 9mm pistols aimed at them.

"Clear some space," an easily recognisable voice could be heard. The men shifted and they were shocked as Nina and Eddy stood above them. Turning to her accomplice, Nina nodded. "Inform Jin on mission success, I'll take it from here."

Eddy nodded and left, Nina looked back down at the men and crossed her arms.

"Sorry about the commotion, but my boss has requested that you three come to headquarters as he has some very important business with you."

Paul glared up at her and spat at her feet.

"Fat chance, we ain't doin' jack shit for that asshole…"

Nina shook her head and sighed, grabbing a pistol from one of the suited men.

"Sorry Paul, but that wasn't a request. More like an order," she replied before ordering two men to pick him up. "So you will come either the easy way, or the hard way."

He laughed in her face.

"Yeah and what can a bitch like you gonna do to me if I don't come…"

"Paul, mate, don't provoke her…" Steve warned as he continued to lay flat on the ground. But it was too late, Nina pistol-whipped Paul and he was knocked out cold. She motioned for the men holding him to take him out before turning to the other two. "I actually feel sorry for you guys being with a moron like him. Come on, get up and let's go."

Both Law and Steve decided to get up, not wishing to end up like Paul and they left the room with Nina walking behind them.

* * *

The van arrived at the house after a windy trip and it was nightfall. Paul remained unconscious for the majority of the ride, just when he awoke he realised that they had gagged his mouth and had him tied by the wrists and ankles and on the cold metal floor. Steve was throwing up from travel sickness, his head in a bucket with Eddy, who was sitting next to him, trying to look away as he too felt queasy. Law was trying to take his mind off the ride altogether and keep his calm composure by trying to help his friend on the ground to keep calm.

"Much longer until we're there?" Law asked Nina, who was sitting in the front seat. She glanced over her shoulder at him and returned her attention to the front.

"We should almost be there, just around this corner," she replied evenly before hearing Steve heaving again. "I certainly hope so for his sake."

Steve looked over at her, his face was unusually pale. Much paler than usual to be exact.

"How far away does this guy live out of the city?"

"Jin likes the ability of being able to get away from everything," Eddy answered, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Can't blame him either, I wouldn't really want to be living in the city either."

The van slowed down as they approached the set of gates that led into the concealed property. Nina pulled out her key card and showed the guard who then saluted and opened the iron gates. Driving up to the front steps, the van stopped and Nina was the first one out and opened the back of the van. Eddy and Law helped Steve, who could barely walk after being sick, out while two men grabbed Paul and dragged him out and up the stairs.

* * *

Jin was in the reception room on the bottom floor. His long black leather coat was long forgotten and he was sipping a drink while watching the fire burn with intensity in front of him. He thought there wouldn't be a better place to explain his plan to his expected guests, so upon hearing of Nina leaving headquarters he had decided to retreat to his home in the hills and waited ever since and gave the order to meet him there.

Hearing voices from outside, he stood up from his black leather armchair and gazed at the door, which then opened and a group of people walked in. Law and Steve stood in front of the fire while the guards dropped Paul at their feet. Nina and Eddy stood on either side of Jin and motioned for the suited men to leave the room. They complied and closed the door behind them. Jin looked down at Paul and looked at Eddy.

"Take the gag out of his mouth, looks like he wants to speak."

Eddy nodded and went over to kneel down beside him, pulling out the cloth that was in his mouth. To no one's surprise, Paul's first words were nothing but abuse towards the trio in front of him.

"Ya fuckin' assholes! What do you want now?" He looked over his shoulder at his two friends, seeing that they were unharmed and he was the only one on the ground. "Why aren't you two helping me?"

Law looked at Jin, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why are we here?"

"I want you three to do a job for me, there'll be a small reward for it…"

"And why would you think we'd help you?" Paul interrupted and Steve nudged him in the ribs to keep him quiet.

"Quiet, you're not in the position to argue," he told him and looked at the trio. "So what is it that you want us to do for you exactly?"

Jin smirked.

"We need you to do some undercover work for us so that we can successfully retaliate against G-Corporation," he explained. "I want you to act as members of their military force and gain access to their high-security laboratory. You'll be setting off a bomb."

The three men went wide-eyed, they were being asked to not only to breach security but also to destroy the facility and result in killing many. But they had no choice, did they?

"Yeah, and if we refuse?"

"Then there's a ravine at the back where you'll be thrown into and will never be able to get back out."

The men looked at one another. There was defiantly no other choice, if they decline they will die and if they accept, it's a suicide mission. But at least with that option they might go out with a bang, literally.

"Fine, we'll do it," Steve replied, looking over at Nina who was in just as much shock as him. Obviously she didn't know about any of this, but in reality she was scared. Indeed, Nina Williams was scared of something for the first time in a long time. She wanted to try and patch things up with her son, but now she risked losing that chance entirely.

Jin nodded.

"Good, you'll be staying here for protection," he said. "If G-Corporation found out that you're working for us, you'll be another person on their hit-list." He looked at Eddy. "Un-tie Mr. Phoenix and escort them to their rooms. We'll spend the next day or so to prepare them for the assault."

Eddy knelt down beside Paul and untied the binds around his wrists and ankles. He helped him up and followed the three men out. The door closed behind him and that left Jin and Nina in the room together, alone with the rising heat of the flames and their confusion about the other. Sitting down, Jin poured himself another drink and leaned back. Nina stood in front of the fire and looked at him.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" she asked him with concern. "Should we trust that they will do the job?"

Jin didn't look at her, but looked past her at the flames.

"This is our chance for an attack," he replied. "I can't risk my soldier's lives so soon after that little stunt that my father had pulled. We need time to re-build."

"But what about the lives of these men? They're more likely going to get killed…"

"There is nothing to worry about, I will make sure that they won't…"

"How could you possibly know that, Jin?" Nina snapped and turned away from him. "I mean, Kazuya is going to recognise them! He knows who they are."

Jin sighed and stood up. He could sense that Nina was fearing something, scared that was going to lose something. Instantly, he knew that it was Steve that she was concerned about. They only just found each other again and she was scared of losing him again. This was the reason why she closed herself off from people, to lessen the risk of her getting hurt if they died, also another reason why she wouldn't allow herself to be in a relationship with someone. She had lost her father because of a mistake that she had made when she was a child of only about twelve.

* * *

_Thirty-One Years Ago…_

_Armed men surrounded a tall, balding man who was covering a child with his body. Richard Williams looked behind his shoulder and saw one of them getting impatient. They had managed to get Anna away with no problem, but he didn't want Nina to leave him so easily. He was her pride and joy, taught her everything he knew in the Assassination Arts as well as aspects of bone-breaking martial arts, she was like the female version of himself. _

"_...Come on, you're wasting my time," one of the men continued to complain. The other man, who appeared to be the leader shoved him out of the way, into the snow. He held his gun at Richard, who then stood up and puffed out his chest. _

"_Don't push your luck pal," the man warned. "I have an itchy trigger finger." _

_Richard Williams stared down the barrel and in an instant he struck the man and began taking down scores of them. Nina crawled backwards along the ground, crying and whimpering as she watched her father struggle against his attackers. She held the sides of her head. However, her father's efforts were short-lived as he was suddenly pinned on the ground and calling out to her. _

"_Nina! Take it…" He pointed out to a rifle nearby. But no matter how much she wanted to, she was frozen not by the cold but by fear. It was too late, the man that was thrown away earlier picked up the weapon and fired at the struggling men, before collapsing on the ground. When Nina looked around, she saw that she was completely alone in a field on blood-stained snow and fallen bodies, one of them belonged to Richard Williams. _

_She was shaking, an emotional mess and she continued to cry as she was surrounded by the remains of the plane that they were traveling on. _

* * *

Jin sighed and placed his drink down on the table and approached her from behind. He saw that she was shaking and a couple streams of fresh tears went down her face. Obviously she was thinking of something that was hurting her and he wanted to do, or say anything that would take some of the pain away from her.

'She might hate me for this, but I can't hide it anymore,' he thought. 'But it might help her to forget.'

"Nina," he said softly and turned her around by the shoulders. "He's going to get through it, I'll make sure that nothing will happen to him, I promise."

Nina looked shocked, of course she felt scared for Steve. She only just started trying to patch things up with him and there was a risk that she would lose him. But how did Jin sense it? Regardless of it now, she stood there in a daze caused by the man in front of her, her lips slightly parted and eyes narrowed. Jin's hand remained on her arm while he raised his other one to cup her cheek. Then without further hesitation, he brought their lips together in a passionate lip-lock, moving against her cold soft lips, slow and gentle. She felt herself melt beneath his touch and had reached the point where she couldn't resist.

It took Nina a while to realise what they were doing, but she was too exhausted to care and she started to respond back and wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down even further and deepened the kiss. They continued to be in each other's arms as they stood in front of the fire, savouring the moment.

* * *

A/N: What a way to end the chapter, eh? Well then, I feel that this could be the start of something. Perhaps I could tease you all for a bit longer, or should I build on this. I have a feeling that something will be happening real soon. Keep an eye out for the next chapter :)


	7. Regrets or Confused Feelings

A/N: What a way to end that last chapter, I was pretty happy with it and this chapter will use the tension between them as it has reached boiling point. Yes, this is the chapter that most of you would have been looking for the past couple of chapters. And there will be a sensitive moment also between both Nina and Steve. Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys you are the one's inspiring me to write. Enjoy!

Warnings: LEMON towards the end of the chapter, if you don't like it then skip it, but don't skip the last part of the chapter because it connects to the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Regrets or Confused Feelings**

_February 19__th__ 2008_

There was snow outside from the sudden snowfall that had occurred suddenly overnight and blanketed the ground with a white sheet. Inside, the fire had burned down to nothing more than a smouldering flame and empty glasses were up on the table. It was silent, except for the breathing coming from the two people sleeping on the lounge chair, wrapped in each others arms with a blanket draped over them. The sun shone through the window and landed squarely on their faces, Nina squinted as she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin before slowly opening her eyes.

Yawning, she looked around at her surroundings. The night before for her was a complete blur, she remembered allowing the emotional walls that she had built to collapse and she also remembered…

'Jin…'

Feeling something wrapped around her waist, Nina looked down and saw a strong arm coiled around her. With widened eyes, she looked up to see what her head was resting on, only to meet the bare chest of her boss, which was peeking itself through his half-done up shirt. Removing herself from his grip, she sat up on the edge of the lounge and rubbed her temples. Nina began to piece together what had happened, they kissed in front of the fire and then they sat down and had a couple of drinks before falling asleep in each others arms. Strange enough, she actually found it quite comforting, even natural for them to be like that. But what the hell was she doing? This was her boss.

"Hmm…"

She looked back upon hearing him moan, stirring from his slumber. Jin opened his eyes and was met by the sight of the blonde woman, her hair was now free from her ponytail and her black jacket had ridden slightly up her midsection. Sitting forward, he looked away.

"Morning," he said awkwardly.

"Morning," she replied, not looking at him.

Jin swallowed. What could he say in this situation? What if she had regrets?

"Nina, about last night…"

She looked at him then, not wanting him to finish his sentence.

"It's ok, I shouldn't have…I'm sorry, I don't really know what to think or feel at the moment."

He nodded and placed his feet on the ground.

"I don't really know either, what if the feeling isn't mutual?"

Looking away and gazed down at the wooden floor, Nina didn't expect him to say that. Yes, in such a short period time without realising it to begin with, she had become attracted to him and since their close proximity in that bathroom, those feelings began to surface. However, she didn't really think that he would return it as well. Did they even know what love really is considering that the people that they have loved the most were taken away from them so suddenly? That was the big problem.

"Jin, I can't say how I feel or how this would work, but I need to be sure before I get into anything," she explained and looked at him once again. "I think you need some thinking time as well and if you're ready to talk, then you can talk to me tonight and we can try and get closure."

Without saying another word, she got up and left. Jin continued to sit there and heard her close the door behind her. Sighing deeply, he rolled his head back and closed his eyes. What in the world was this woman doing to him? Yes, she was an extremely attractive woman, but he never though he would become attracted to her, so quick and sudden. He did miss out on the typical teenage experience of having a relationship as he was forced to grow up so quickly after his mother's death, after Heihachi's betrayal. But then again, so did Nina as she became an assassin within a few years after losing her father, leaving home after constant fights with Anna and her mother's death when she was fifteen. Since her father died, a lot of the pressure was put on her to look after the family since she was the eldest sibling and her mother was constantly working to keep the three of them out of trouble. She too had to grow up and miss the regular dealings of teenage-hood just to survive. Perhaps that's why he had this sudden attraction to her, Nina was just like him and they were able to share an emotional attachment.

He did have girls back when he was at school ask him out, but that was only because he was the grandson of the owner that established the place or they just had their typical schoolgirl crush on some really attractive guy and not because they knew him personally. Another reason why he never had a relationship with a woman was because he had planned on killing Heihachi, Kazuya and then himself at the end of the fourth tournament, but after seeing an image of his mother flash into his mind, he couldn't commit such an act.

But even now, Jin knew that he shouldn't get into a relationship now, but he can't help himself even if it means hurting Nina in the end. However, this could provide him once last opportunity to experience love before his quest comes to an end.

He needed to go talk to her, hold her slender form in his arms and enjoy her presence. The night before she didn't resist, nor did she give him the signal to do so and it happened almost naturally. In front of that burning fire, their lips melting like butter against once another and feeling temptation linger over them. It was passionate, yet gentle and sweet.

But for now he was going to let Nina have her space and clear her head before confronting her. Until that time came, he had some other business to attend to. Standing up, he left the room and the fire continued to burn out.

* * *

_Nineteen months ago…_

_The black car stopped in front of the hotel near the heart of the city. After being knocked out of the tournament three rounds from the final stage, Steve had decided to remain and watch the rest of the tournament, in which Kazuya Mishima had lost to Heihachi. Now with nothing binding him to keep him there, there was no reason for him to stay. But there was still that bounty on his head that the syndicate took out, so he couldn't risk going back to Britain. _

_Opening the door and stepping out, Steve sighed and began to walk towards the entrance of the hotel, feeling something warm on his neck but suddenly it went away. He began to think back to the fight that he had lost. She was blonde, quick and powerful with the most gorgeous blue eyes that he had ever laid upon, he had felt a connection with this woman. The fight lasted for a while until she dealt a powerful blow to his torso and he ended up hitting the wall, knocked unconscious. It wasn't until, he gained access to the Mishima Zaibatsu computers with the help of Lei Wulong, that Steve could piece the pieces of the puzzle together. He found out that he was conceived by a woman involved in a cryogenic experiment, the woman's name was Nina Williams. But that meant nothing to him until he had looked at the picture, it was of a young woman barely in her twenties inside a glass tube, naked as the day that she was first brought into existence. He had a flashback to the fight, seeing her face and then comparing it to the picture, he knew that the woman that he fought was indeed his mother._

_But did she know that he was her son? Her own flesh and blood?  
_

_That didn't matter much anymore, she disappeared straight after the fight had ended and he hadn't heard about her since. All Steve could do now was to live life a day at a time until the syndicate could finally catch him. _

_Opening the door and stepping out the car, he had heard a couple of gunshots coming from across the streets. Choosing to ignore it, he continued to head towards the hotel. Footsteps cam from behind him, the sound of a pair of heels clattering across the pavement until they stopped nearby. Usually he wouldn't stop, but Steve sensed a familiar presence. _

_Looking around, he met a familiar set of blue eyes. Nina Williams, clad in a purple cat-suit, stood before him and the look on her face told him that she knew the truth as well. They made no movement, they didn't say anything, but seeing each other mother to son for the first time was a moment that they found a bit awkward. Steve was about to speak, just to break the ice with his long-lost mother, but in an instant it was taken away from him. _

"_Freeze!" Lei Wulong demanded as he aimed his gun at Nina. She never looked at him, but kept her focus on Steve. _

_Sensing that she was in some sort of trouble, Steve dove at the police officer and pinned him to the ground. Nina took this opportunity to make her escape, but she wanted to say something. _

"_Thanks," she replied before running down the path. Steve got off Lei who then chased after the blonde haired assassin and all Steve could do was watch his mother run off and out of his life. _

* * *

Steve snapped his eyes open at the end of the dream. Ever since that day he had been having the same dreams, over and over again. Sitting up on the bed in the room that he had to himself when the sound of the door opening, he shook his head and watched as the person walked in. Steve was guessing that Paul would be coming in here to plan an escape, but it wasn't and when he saw the person, he knew that his memory was about be relived.

Her heels clacked across the wooden floor towards him, long blonde hair loose and draped across her shoulders. Sitting down on the chair next to the bed, Nina stared across the room at the wall on the opposite side. There was something different about her that Steve noticed when he compared her to the day at the helipad. Her eyes, instead of holding their usual harsh coldness that would freeze hell itself, they now showed the great emotional turmoil that she faced. No one, in their lifetime, had ever seen Nina Williams lose her composure, something obviously had happened to cause this much distress in such a strong-willed woman.

Not knowing what to do or say, Steve grabbed one of the hands that she had in her lap and held it. The feel of his touch on her skin sent a shock throughout her entire body, his warm hand was taking away the coldness in her moment of weakness.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked her.

Nina shook her head and continued to look away from him.

"I don't know…there's just so much on my mind at the moment that I can't even think straight," she replied before giving a bitter chuckle. "If Anna were here, she would find this fucking hysterical. I'm supposed to be this cold-blooded assassin who shows no emotion or care for anybody else. That's pretty bloody laughable right now."

Sighing, Steve got off the bed and dropped onto one knee. Nina looked at him then, into the eyes that she had given him.

"Who cares what she thinks," he told her. "Everyone tries to act so cold and heartless at times, but really they are trying to stop themselves getting hurt in the process. So don't hide anything from anyone anymore, you need to let the people that care about you in. Just let it go."

Nina suddenly felt her throat constrict.

'I'm not going to start crying now,' she thought desperately. 'Not especially if I had been doing that all night.'

Grasping his hand back, Nina gave her son a weak smile and using her free hand to stroke his hair.

"Thank you Steve," she said after a while in silence. "I just want you to do one more thing for me."

"What's that?"

Removing her hand from his hand and carefully cupping his jaw, she whispered to him.

"Come back out alive, be safe and make sure your friends don't do anything stupid."

Steve laughed a little.

"I promise."

Nodding, Nina stood up and removed her hand and started to make her way out. Steve looked over his shoulder and got up.

"Where are you going now?"

She stopped, but not looking back.

"If you need to see me, I'll be around the house. If not, I might be down at the hot spring soaking myself."

She left without another word and Steve slumped back down onto the bed and closed his eyes. Sighing deeply, he smiled in relief. Perhaps this could be a new start after all.

* * *

The explosive device sat on the table in the middle as Eddy and Jin stood at one side, while Paul, Law and Steve stood at the other side. The three men looked amazed at the doomsday device, it looked like that it had the power to wipe out an entire island. Reaching his hand out, Paul was just about to touch it until he felt a sting on the back of his hand. Looking over at Law, he narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Don't touch it, you don't know what this thing could do," Law warned. "It could probably wipe out the entire city."

"That's correct," Jin cut in and the two of them looked at him. "That is why you're going to plant it underground so that all the city will get is a slight tremor."

His phone went off and then he looked over at Eddy.

"Take over."

The Brazilian nodded and waited until Jin was out of the room before continuing the briefing.

"It won't destroy the main tower, but I suspect that the entire underground laboratory will be demolished," he explained and pointed at certain features. "Once you set it, you'll have exactly ten minutes to get out."

"Ten minutes!" The trio exclaimed in unison.

Eddy waved them down.

"I'm sure the three of you can get out, you only have to get out of the underground section. I'll have a team waiting outside in case they open fire on your way out," he reassured. "But if you don't act out of the ordinary, then everything should go according to plan."

Nervously, Paul raised his hand.

"But, won't they recognise us?" he questioned. "Kazuya has seen the three of us before."

"Trust me, your disguises have been designed to change your appearance dramatically," Eddy replied, sounding confident. "You won't even recognise yourselves."

The three men swallowed. It sounded simple enough, but if they were caught it could mean the end of their lives. However, they're caught in this mess and doing this job was the only way out and gives them the ability to get on with their lives. There was absolutely no backing out now.

"I'll make sure nothing will go wrong," Steve said after a long silence, keeping his gaze at the device. "It all seems simple enough."

Eddy nodded.

"We leave later this evening so you can get in early morning, I will be keeping constant radio contact with the three of you…"

He was about to dismiss them until Jin came back into the room, but he remained at the door.

"Eddy, there has been a minor incident over at headquarters," Jin explained. "I need you to take a couple of men over and sort things out."

Eddy nodded.

"Right boss, I've just finished with these three." He looked at them. "You three are free to go, just remain in the building."

Eddy walked towards the door, glanced at his boss and left. Paul, Law and Steve started to file out, but Steve stopped at the door and closed it, turning around to face Jin. The raven-haired man didn't look around, but he knew that Steve was still there.

"Why are you still here?" Jin asked, sounding rather cold.

Steve leaned up against the door and crossed his arms. Usually he would see both Jin and Nina around with one another, but somehow he knew that there was something wrong. Maybe that's why Nina looked so dejected when she came to him earlier.

He figured that Jin had something to do with it.

"What's happening between you and my mother?" Steve asked a question back, Jin was about to say something to rebut, and the British man cut him off. "And don't bullshit me, mate. She seemed upset about something when I saw her earlier."

Jin snapped his head over in the blonde man's direction, his gaze was one of shock and surprise.

"What did she tell you?"

"Nothing, but I can tell…Dammit Kazama! She hasn't been with you today and obviously something is…"

Jin sighed heavily, feeling a bit impatient.

"Well it's none of your business, your mother and I just need to sort things out," he replied.

He couldn't believe this guy, neither Jin nor Nina wanted to get off their asses and sort it out. Steve groaned loudly and held the sides of his head as if he was trying to prevent an explosion from happening. There was obviously something behind the scenes that was going on.

"Then why don't get off your bloody ass and do something!" Steve snapped. "So enlighten me as to how she got into the state that she's in?"

Jin looked at him wide-eyed, surprised how a usually calm and energetic young man that Steve Fox was could lose his cool. Bowing his head, Jin closed his eyes.

"Because…she opened up to me," he replied after a short pause, trying to collect his thoughts. "It was because she opened to me and I took the opportunity and then when we talked this morning we…I couldn't tell how either of us were…"

"Then be a goddamn man and tell her. Holy shit, you're the most powerful man in the world and you can't even confront a woman," Steve ranted. "Enough of this crap and get your ass out there and see her or otherwise I'll have to drag you there myself."

Steve turned around and opened the door.

"She'll be down at the hot spring from what she told me," he said and started to exit, but then Jin called out to him.

"Steve." The British man stopped and looked back. "Thank you."

Steve gave a curt nod.

"At least I've done a deed for my mother before I go onto this job. Just promise me this, if I don't come back, just make sure she's alright."

With that he left and closed the door. Jin sighed and buried his face, knowing that the hard part was coming. Never he had thought of falling for a woman as he had always intended to end his life just to stop the cursed bloodline of his family, nor did he want to start one knowing that if his plan was to succeed that the person that he fell for would get hurt in the process. But he couldn't hold it in any longer as it was tearing him apart for the past week.

How could he fall for someone, and so quickly?

He had to see her, talk her, hold her…hell, do anything to get rid of this awkwardness between them and just to feel for the first time in his life, an emotion other than anger and disgust for once. Jin was sure that Nina wanted to feel the same as she too had felt nothing but the negative emotions that cause great hostility within a family or to other people.

With that said, he walked out of the room and headed down to the place that his heart, and Steve for that matter, told him to go.

* * *

The snow had melted and steamed in this hot place, fogging up the surroundings more than usual and it had added extra heat, making the blonde woman sweat. However, it was relaxing as Nina allowed the warm water to undo the knots of tension that had built up in her neck and shoulders and she rolled her head back and enjoyed the sensation.

'How long have I been in here for?' she thought to herself and allowed a small chuckle. 'Jin would probably murder me for being down here by myself.'

For the past hour or two, Nina had been down there trying to recompose herself after what had happened earlier and it was working to a certain extent. But she had to face him later, that's what she told him just before she left that room and that was about eight hours ago. That was also about the same time that she saw Steve, seeking comfort from him despite barely knowing one another. But somehow it had worked, the way that his hand touched hers and gazing into her eyes, it was soothing as Nina knew that she could trust him and that was something that she hadn't felt for a long time.

That was one barrier of the road and there was one more left to go.

Nina began to remember the moment from the night before, the way her legs felt as if they were about to collapse underneath her as she gave into his touch. Her soft lips melted like butter as they moved against his and feeling secure in a set of strong, extremely muscular arms.

"But what if I've pushed him away?" she asked to no one in particular and sighed. "The way that I reacted, what if I had hurt him?"

Upon closing her eyes and letting out a moan as the water continued to massage her body, she heard footsteps coming down the stone steps nearby. Using her quick reflexes, Nina snapped out of her daze and pulled out the handgun that she had stashed underneath a nearby stone and pointed it in the direction of where the footsteps were coming from. The metal felt hot against her skin as it had heated over time from the hot conditions and her heart began to pound hard and fast against the walls of her chest. Now she knew why Jin wanted her be down there with another person.

The footsteps grew closer and once the dark figure emerged from the thick mist, Nina relaxed her grip on the gun, placing it back under the stone. She couldn't believe that he actually came.

Jin was standing there, he hadn't bothered with his long coat and was standing before her just the way that she had left him. He felt nervous, gazing at the woman in the purple bikini and showing off her wonderful body. Swallowing and not knowing what to say, he decided to enter the spring, fully-clothed and Nina hitched a breath of shock as Jin made his way towards her, her eyes showed astonishment and surprise at what she was witnessing.

"Jin…what are you doing?"

He didn't answer, but stood right in front of her, with their bodies just barely touching. Jin felt the blonde's body stiffen like a board, his own body started to sweat from both the heat and the sheer nervousness that he felt in that situation. There they were, in the middle of a steaming hot spring and neither of them didn't really know what to say to the other.

"I…I just wanted to say…"

The dark-haired looked away and gazed down. Nina tried to get a glance of his eyes and when she did, she got her answer.

"Jin…it's ok, whatever you feel or want, and that's ok by me."

He looked at her then, gazing into those eyes, those blue pools that had captivated him and sucking him in like a whirlpool in the ocean. Jin felt like that he was drowning and that Nina was the only thing that would keep him alive. He didn't really know what to say, but somehow she could read him like a book.

'Damn it, if I can't speak then I will have to…'

Reaching his hand to the back of her head, Jin drew his mouth onto hers and kissed her hard, with much more force than the last time. Nina started to respond back and rested her hands onto the muscular chest of her boss, his cold lips on hers and teeth biting bottom lip. After a while, Nina felt Jin shiver, realising that the air above the water was cold. Pulling back, she grasped his hand and motioned her head.

"Your clothes are wet," she finally said. "Come on, we'll go back and get warm."

He nodded and allowed Nina to lead him out of the water.

* * *

Moments later they entered Jin's bedroom. Nina was fully clothed and as soon as she and Jin got through the doorway, the door was slammed back with such force that it was about to snap in half as Jin pushed Nina's body back against it and claimed her lips again. His hands cupped both sides of her face as hers roamed all over his back, feeling every inch of muscle through the dampened material that clung to his body. She felt her knees grow weak and to the point of buckling and Jin sensed this, he reached down and grabbed the back of her thighs and slid her up against the door and in response Nina wrapped her legs around his torso.

Their bodies were hot against each other as they continued their growing passion, feeling aroused and it didn't take long before it reached boiling point. Jin pulled back and looked at her, seeing if she wanted to stop, but she gave no indication to stop as he released his hands from her face and reached down to the zipper of her black jacket and slowly zipped it down. Removing the item from her shoulders and down her arms, allowing it to drop to the ground, he reached in for her lips again, this time gentler and slower. Nina tangled her hands into his dark hair and pulled him closer, deepening it and this made her moan a little.

Grabbing her thighs again, Jin pulled her off the wall and walked over to the bed and once they both got there, he slowly lowered Nina onto her back and laid down on top of her. Untangling her legs from around his torso, Nina got straight to work on unbuttoning Jin's shirt, which didn't take long as he only had half of them done up in the first place. Once that task was accomplished, she reached her hands underneath and slowly peeled the material down his shoulders, which then Jin helped her and removed the garment which now lay forgotten on the ground behind him. Jin pushed himself further up against Nina and she now could feel his hardness, straining and begging to be free of its confines.

Lowering his face into her neck, Jin started to kiss down her slender neck and Nina grabbed onto his shoulders, digging her fingernails hard and rolled her head back in the pleasure that she was receiving. The room was soon filled with her moans as the sensation went down to her collarbones and suddenly her whole body was tingling. Removing himself, Jin got up and knelt on the ground and grabbed for one of her feet. She watched him as he unzipped her boots and pulled them off slowly to reveal the bare feet underneath before removing his own footwear.

He got back on top and Nina grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him close and kissed him again passionately. Neither them knew how much longer they were going to last, and it was driving them insane. Growling a little, Jin reached his hands underneath her back and unclipped the purple bikini top and then pulled the fabric from her body and then pulled away from her before sinking into the valley between her breasts. Nina knew that she couldn't take much more of this and reached her hands down to Jin's belt and tried to work the leather strap free. Eventually she managed to tear the belt free from the loops in the mix of her pleasure and undid the button and zipper of his pants.

Removing his head from her chest, he got up and removed his remaining clothing while Nina followed suit. They both took a moment to admire each other, gazing at each other's bodies as they knew that after this point there was no return. It was all or nothing.

Laying back down and positioning himself at her entrance, Jin watched as Nina's face twitched in pleasure as the tip of his shaft touched her sensitive area. He didn't see any hesitation and she wasn't pushing him away, but she sat up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips and pulled back. They wanted this so much, they both needed it.

"Make love to me," Nina said softly, gazing deeply into his eyes which were darkened with lust just like hers.

Without further hesitation, Jin pushed himself inside her and started to move, thrusting slow and deep. Nina felt a little bit of pain since it had been a long time since she was with a man in this way and she reached around his torso and gripped his shoulder blades. Moans and groans filled the room as the couple on the bed moved in sync with one another, the pleasure was overflowing. Jin wanted to take it easy, he didn't want to let go early, but Nina felt frustrated by how slow he was going and she wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed him closer.

"Jin…please…" she moaned.

Hearing her plea, Jin began to pump harder and he had to balance himself on his hands to do so. Nina's fingernails dug into the muscles of his shoulders as she felt herself growing closer to climax and soon the both of them were moaning and groaning, saying each other's names as they were approaching breaking point. Sweat was beading on them and their bodies were hot against one another and they kept going for a while. Soon after, Nina tightened around him and hit her peak with a cry and this was the final trigger for Jin as he too reached climax, his eyes rolling back as he groaned her name.

The two of them stayed like that for a while, getting themselves back to the real world and then Jin pulled himself out and pulled the sheets from underneath and pulled them over their bodies. He wrapped his arms around Nina and she kissed the beads of sweat that had formed on his chest. They remained in silence for several minutes, trying to figure what was just shared between them. Unlike the other men that she had spent the night with, Nina felt different about Jin. It wasn't lust, it was…

"Jin…I think I have fallen in love with you," she said softly against his heaving chest.

Jin pulled back a little and met her gaze. Never Jin thought that Nina would be the first one to say it, perhaps it was because of the emotionless cold exterior that she had. But after seeing her for the past week had really shown that she was human like him and everyone else. But in her saying that, it had lifted a lot of the pressure off his shoulders.

"I think I have fallen for you as well," Jin replied and ran a thumb along her jaw before drawing them back in for another passionate kiss.

* * *

_February 20__th__ 2008_

_Time: 0500 hrs_

Three G-Corporation soldiers were walking towards the front entrance, with a black case in their hands. The only thing was that they weren't really G-Corp soldiers, but imposters. Paul, Steve and Law were the men in the costumes, with Eddy talking to them via headset.

"_Ok, it will take you a while to get down there," Eddy said. "Just make sure you follow both my orders and any orders that they might give you to ensure that you don't blow your cover." _

"But won't they catch us out?" Law asked.

"_Don't worry, you three are the only one's that can hear me. Trust me, doing jobs for them and prolonging the mission will be better than you guys getting caught in gunfire." _

"We've got this thing covered," Steve said. "We'll be back out in a matter of time."

"_That's right, good luck." _

Stopping in front of the glass doors, they looked at one another. All three of them were nervous as what they were about to do was extremely dangerous and there was the slight chance that they weren't going to make it out.

"Well then guys, this is it," Paul said and scratched the back of his head. "Let's get it over and done with so we can focus on the tournament."

The other two men nodded at each other.

"Shall we go in then?" Steve suggested and led the other two in.

* * *

A/N: Finally, they both gave in. I enjoy writing and reading lemon as they just add a whole new degree and element to a story and with the part involving Steve and Nina really showed something developing between the two. I'm sure you all have figured out where this next chapter is heading, so keep an eye out and keep those reviews and alerts coming :)


	8. Sneaking Underground

A/N: Well it's been awhile since my last update and I would have had this chapter up earlier, but my internet was cut off for an entire week due to maintenance work. So I couldn't update when I wanted to. Anyway, a chapter with action and possible torture towards the end, also even though Death By Degrees isn't canon in anyway to the main series just pretend that those events did happen prior to the series as I will be making some reference in this chapter and future chapters to it. Hopefully you'll enjoy this and thanks for the reviews, keep them coming :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Sneaking Underground  
**

_February 20__th__ 2008_

_Time: 0630 hrs_

It wasn't until the morning after that the events of the night before had become clear. Items of clothing had spread along the floor, near the door and a purple bikini draped over the lamp on the bedside table. If anyone had walked in at that point, they would have thought that a hurricane had hit. However, it wasn't a hurricane. Unknown to the rest of the world, two individuals had finally managed to vent out the long-growing tension that had been building up between them and then erupted like a volcano. The result being heated passion that had led to so much more and their soft breathing was now the only thing heard inside that room, different from the moaning and groaning of several hours ago.

It was just cracking dawn as the sun's rays crept through the window and landed onto the two bodies entwined in the black satin sheets together. Blue eyes opened up as the heated sting from the sun hit her face and she felt her head lying against something solid. Yawning slightly, Nina tilted her head to get a good view of Jin's face, who still had his eyes closed and sleeping soundly. Leaning her head back down onto his chest, she sighed and placed a leg between his and allowed a soft moan to escape. Nina didn't believe that this had happened as the day before she felt nothing but confusion, emotional to the point that she let out tears in front of her son and then went to hide for the rest of the day.

'So much for my cold exterior,' she thought. 'If Anna saw me yesterday, she would be having a fucking laugh about it.'

But now, all that pain and confusion went away in one night. One night to actually feel and not think, show no regret and to let it all out. Nina could actually admit that it was good to feel, something that she hadn't been able to do for a long time since her childhood. Yes, she had slept with a couple of other partners in the past, but she didn't feel anything compared to what she had felt with Jin. She had never declared love after sex with anyone, but she did it last night and he returned the gesture. She wasn't like Anna who has had dozens of lovers over the years, no she had more respect for herself than that as she was more cautious of who to let into her life so that she never got hurt. But, Jin had broken that ice cold shell and Nina had allowed him in.

She never thought that she would ever fall for someone so hard. Nina wondered how he felt.

A sleepy yawn made her look up again as Jin was stirring from his sleep. His brown eyes opened and looked down at the strong arm that he had wrapped around her slender waist. Groaning when the sun stung his eyes, he shut his eyes tightly.

"Since when was the sun this bright?" he groaned.

Nina laughed a little nuzzled her face into his neck, her lips about an inch from his ear.

"I take it that you're not a morning person," she whispered and bit his earlobe softly.

Rolling to his side, Jin gazed at her before capturing her lips, grazing over her bottom one before pulling back.

"So what now?" he asked.

Nina sighed and rolled onto her back.

"I don't know, do you think this is too soon?"

Jin raised an eyebrow as he placed a hand on her flat stomach.

"You're not having regrets, are you?" he asked her. "I mean, if you want to back out…"

Nina smiled softly and reached up to him then, her soft lips touching his, barely touching one another. Pulling back, she was still smiling.

"No, of course not," she replied with a weak smile. "Maybe we should take it easy from now on, enjoy each other's company."

Jin nodded and rested his head onto the crook of her shoulder, sighing deeply and warming the cool skin of her neck as Nina rubbed and kneaded the muscles in his shoulders.

It was comforting like this as he hadn't had a woman to hold him like that and wasn't his mother. Jin could remember from when he was a child, Jun Kazama would hold him in her arms and tell him stories of nature and even at some points of his father and how she tried to find a way to save his soul from the Devil. Ironically, it was the power of the Devil that took everything away, his mother, his innocence and it was only a matter of time before the curse that was within him emerged out of the betrayal and deception inflicted upon him by his grandfather. Since that fateful day, he no longer had the comfort of another for a long time. But there he was, many years later and in the arms of the very person that he could trust at that point of time, something that he never thought of having again.

But, knowing that his conquest could very well mean the end of his life, he didn't want Nina to suffer the same way that he did. He had to tell her about the true intention of his plan.

"Nina, if I told you that this war will be the end of me, would you stay with me until the end?" he asked her.

Nina's eyes widened a little in shock, but she still didn't look at him.

"What do you mean Jin?"

He sighed and rolled onto his back, placing his hands behind his head.

"Remember when I told you about what was contained in that temple?" Jin asked and Nina nodded. "Well, the only way that Azazel can be defeated is by someone that has the Devil Gene and we both are fully aware of that my father would most take on this task himself."

"So are you saying that you're going to sacrifice yourself? Is this what this war is about?" Nina asked, sounding slightly panicked. She sat up and looked across the room. "So there was something else behind all this."

Jin sighed and sat up behind her.

"Nina, I can understand why you would question this and if you want to back out then now is the…"

"I'll stay until the end," she cut him off and looked over her shoulder. "I can take whatever is thrown at me and my wish is for you to make the best of whatever time you may have left."

He smiled a little and was about to say something, but then Nina continued.

"You were born with this curse and the only way to rid yourself of it is to destroy Azazel. Yes, it will be hard to let you go, but if it will set you free then I will support you all the way."

Jin laid back and Nina joined him, resting her head onto his shoulder as he wrapped an arm back around her waist and closed his eyes.

"Thank you Nina, I needed to hear that."

* * *

_Location: Hangar_

_Time: 1300 hrs_

"Hey, do you even know where we're goin'?" Paul asked as he and Steve followed Law through the hanger on the basement level. "We've been walkin' around for hours!"

Steve nudged him firmly in the ribs with his elbow, hushing him quiet.

"You're going to blow our cover, quit whining," he whispered. "We got lucky at the elevator coming down here."

Earlier that day, things were running smoothly until they reached a security checkpoint. The guard just asked them what business they had down underground and Paul, who had a short-temper and was very impatient, told the guard to move and it was none of his business. Things would have got out of hand if it wasn't for Law's quick-thinking and excused his friend, eventually they were allowed access to the hanger.

Now they were wandering through this maze of large metal shipping containers and the trio had been trying to navigate their way through the labyrinth for hours, going around in circles. Steve now realised the mistake of allowing Law to lead them through. Looking around, he came up with an idea and stopped walking.

"Guys, stop and listen," he spoke and pointed up to the top of the seven foot high container. "Paul, can you get Marshall up onto the top of this container?"

Law looked at the British man with a widened gaze.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the smallest out of the three of us, and also because it's your fault for getting us lost."

"Dammit," Law cursed and motioned to Paul. "Come on, I'll stand on your shoulders."

The larger man walked over and knelt down and Law placed one booted foot onto his shoulder and placed his hands on the wall for balance as he stood himself up. Paul groaned under the weight and slowly stood up, feeling his knees starting to buckle out from underneath. The man on his shoulders began to feel for the metal edge and once he managed to grip onto it, he pulled himself up. Paul fell onto his knees and rubbed at his shoulders.

"Damn man, have you put on weight or somethin'?" he exclaimed and stood up. "I don't recall you being this heavy!"

Both Steve and Law looked at him harshly and hushed him before Law scanned the area.

"What do you see?" Steve asked.

"Hmm…" Law hummed and pointed to forward. "I think if we keep going straight and then turn left towards some security door, then we're home free."

Steve nodded.

"Get yourself down and then we'll keep going this way…"

"Hey you! On top of the container!"

The trio gulped. They've been spotted.

"Get down onto your stomach now!"

Steve and Paul looked at one another.

"Damn, we gotta get outta here!" Paul spoke in hushed whisper. "I'll lead these motherfuckers away and you can go finish the job."

Steve nodded and gripped the case in his hand before running away. As he ran, he switched the headset on.

"Eddy, do you read me?"

"…_Steve, what's going on down there?" _

"Law and Paul are captured, we've been spotted."

"_Dammit! Ok, just keep going and try and make yourself invisible. I'll send a team in to rescue the others." _

"Right, thanks."

He switched the communicator off and removed his helmet, continuing to run through the maze.

Back where he left his comrades, Paul and Law were face down on the ground with booted feet on their necks to keep them in place.

"How is it that we always get into these positions?" Law asked.

Paul groaned in frustration.

"I have no idea, but hopefully the kid has better luck than us."

"Well hello boys," Anna Williams mocked as she came from behind two soldiers that had their guns pointed at the men on the ground. She motioned to the guards to get the men onto their knees and on command they did, roughly and pulled their heads back to make them look at the exotic woman in a short red dress and a white fur coat. Anna smiled at them girlishly and shook her head in disappointment. "Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law, it's been awhile. Haven't seen your faces since the second tournament."

The men struggled against the iron grip of the guards, but they couldn't break free.

"Funny that, I haven't looked for you since that disappearing act that you pulled," Paul said through gritted teeth.

Anna chuckled and knelt down in front of him, giving Paul a perfect view of her exposed cleavage. He swallowed nervously.

"Trust me, you wouldn't have been worth my time," she taunted. "To be quite honest, you were the worst."

Law's eyes widened and he gazed at his friend from the corner of his eye.

"You didn't…'

"Oh, but he did," Anna stated and laughed. "But it wasn't that good unfortunately, I guess that my sister made the right move by turning you down."

Law's shock heightened.

"You went for both of them?"

Paul chuckled a little.

"Oh come on man, what man wouldn't try to do those two?" he replied. "A smokin' hot brunette giving her will to a man and a sexy blonde with a large rack!"

Anna giggled and stood up and motioned to the guards to stand them up.

"Take them to the torture room," she ordered and then looked at the worried faces of the captives. "I'll be having some fun with them to get some information."

The guards nodded and dragged the screaming men away. Anna turned away and looked down at the direction that Steve took off in earlier. She smiled and pointed ahead.

"We'll go down to the underground lab," she informed the two soldiers. "We'll capture the intruder there, radio security checkpoints to back off."

"But…the boss will kill us if…"

Anna laughed and shook her head.

"He approves…I made sure of that, just do it."

"Understood," one of them responded and the two of them headed towards the exit.

Anna stood there for a moment. She had never thought that Nina would accept Steve as her own son and recruit him to do her boss' dirty work, perhaps the cold-blooded assassin did have a heart after all. Richard Williams was the only man in Nina's life that ever had her heart and when he died, that's when Anna thought that Nina's heart went with him, six feet under. Maybe the reappearance of Steve, or there was something else lingering under the surface, that perhaps caused Nina to show that there was a human underneath that cold, hard exterior.

'Time to make a family reunion,' Anna thought before walking away.

Meanwhile, outside there was a small army that had gathered. Eddy stood at the front and held a phone in his hand. He was surprised that the likes of Paul Phoenix lasted for hours, but he knew that there was only a matter of time before they would be spotted.

"What was Jin thinking sending these three in?" he asked himself and dialled a phone number and held it up to his ear.

* * *

_Location: Mountain Villa_

Jin had spent the majority of the day at his desk after getting out of bed late morning. Nina was down at the dojo doing some training and the last he heard she was in her quarters resting. He was tempted to go there and rest with her, but he wanted to be at his desk in case there was business to be attended to. So, he was there reading the news on the war in the paper. Eventually his thoughts soon led to the rebellion amongst his troops and the upcoming tournament.

He knew that he should start hunting down Lars, but there was a reason why he wasn't really bothered at that moment. Jin knew that Lars was an experienced martial artist, his moves could probably even match the top-fighters that enter the King of Iron Fist, so perhaps Lars would enter just to take Jin down. But, there were other matters that Jin had to take care of first, the reason why he announced the tournament in the first place. He knew that Kazuya would see this as an opportunity to face his son face to face, giving Jin the perfect opportunity to finish his father before completing his quest. Jin wasn't prepared to sacrifice himself if he knew that meant that his father was to live on, filling the world with more evil on top of the chaos that Jin himself had started.

No, not even the night he had spent with Nina was going to deter him from finishing what he had started, even after they both declared their love for one another before he told her of his plan. Shockingly enough, she's willing to allow him to go through with it, even if it meant his life as she understood that he was going to do anything to rid him of this curse that ran through his veins. Jin knew why he could trust her so deeply, because she could understand. Her blood was also cursed, the blood of an assassin and she was broken like him. Both had the blood of others stained on their skin, both were tainted. Jin was fuelled by hatred towards Ogre and then was betrayed in turn to awaken the Devil within; Nina was manipulated like a puppet and then broken by Ogre even though Jin had managed to save her.

Yes, they were similar in a way, but not identical as they had lived separate lives. But they weren't different like fire and ice as were both forever tainted. Their lives forever cursed.

"Jin!"

Jin looked up from the newspaper that he was reading. Nina was approaching the desk in her trademark purple camouflage outfit and crossed her arms. There was something about her expression that suddenly had him worried.

"We've got a major problem," she continued. "Steve and the others have been spotted."

Jin sighed.

"What's the situation?"

Nina shook her head.

"Not good. Eddy called me on my cell phone and told me that Paul and his friend have been captured and that Steve was been chased by G-Corporation soldiers underground."

Jin slammed the newspaper on the desk and stood up, turning his back on her.

"Dammit," he hissed under his breath and looked at Nina. "What now?"

Nina sighed and walked around to the other side of the desk and stood behind him.

"Eddy is going to send some people in, we've got no choice," she explained, calmly. "I'm going down there and make sure that Steve is alright." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think you better stay here and…"

"No," Jin said and turned around. "I can't allow you to…"

"Dammit Jin! We've got no choice now, I have to do this or else they're going to fucking kill him," she snapped back and placed a gloved hand on his cheek. "Trust me on this, nothing is going to happen to me. I promise."

Jin sighed and placed his own hand over hers.

"Alright, I trust you," he replied before grabbing his coat off the back of the chair. "But I'm going down there."

Nina sighed and gripped Jin's hand and pulled him along out of the room quickly.

* * *

_Location: G-Corporation Underground Lab- Security Checkpoint_

_Time: 1638hrs_

"I wonder where that little punk is hiding," one of the soldiers said to no one in particular. His partner was sitting behind the counter reading a fighting magazine, which was analysing the past and present fighters of the King of Iron fist tournaments.

"Who knows, but he can't hide forever as he has to get through us in order to gain access to the lab," the other soldier stated before flicking the page, meeting some photographs of a blonde woman dressed in purple. "Hey, isn't ironic that both of the William sisters are on opposing sides of this war, acting as bodyguards for both Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima?"

His partner turned around and looked at him, crossing his arms.

"I guess it is when you put it that way, I never really placed any thought into the matter as I'm more pissed off that the enemy has the hotter one of the two on their side."

"Oh come on! Anna is way hotter than that bitch!" the soldier with magazine scoffed. "I'd prefer me a brunette any day."

His supervisor laughed and shook his head.

"Well I think you're mad for not liking a hot blonde with a large rack," he said. "Besides, I heard that Anna did Paul Phoenix a while back."

The other guy squinted at the mental image of Paul Phoenix with the brunette of discussion.

"Please, don't give me that image…still, I think she's better than that whore…"

"Hey, that's my mother you're talking about."

The soldier that had his back turned to the corridor spun around and was met with the powerful fist of Steve Fox. Falling with a loud thump, the large man was out cold and his comrade came out and started to engage in unarmed combat with the boxer. He threw in a couple of high and middle level kicks, in which Steve dodged with ease and then came up with an uppercut, whipping the solder's head backward before coming back in with a left right combo. The second soldier sprawled out on the ground and Steve knelt down, grabbing a key card.

"Hmph, no one talks about my family like that and gets away with it," Steve said with a smirk before walking over to the receptor and swiped the card through it.

He walked in and saw that it was the end of the road, there were no more doors or passageways. This was the target.

Walking over to a counter in the middle of the room, Steve knelt down and opened up a cupboard and placed the bomb inside. Opening up the case and exposing the timer, he grabbed a key from his pocket and placed it into a keyhole on the bomb and turned it. The device lit up and beeped, requesting a code to be entered to activate it in which Steve typed in four digits on the keypad and the timer displayed the ten minute countdown.

He closed the cupboard and jumped up onto his feet, grabbing the handgun out of his holster.

'There's got to be a better way out,' he thought and looked around. 'There's got to be an elevator around of some sorts for emergencies…hang on, what about that door outside?'

Not wasting anymore time, Steve rushed out of the lab through the glass door and looked to his right, another door. He walked up to it and read what was written on it.

'To be used in emergencies only. Use only a level two or above clearance key card.'

Steve raised an eyebrow and looked down at the card that he acquired just before and smirked, he had the right card. Without further ado, he swiped the card through the receptor and the door swung open, revealing the inside of an elevator. Walking in, he pressed the up button and hoped that it would bring him up out of the underground.

Red heels clicked on the floor of the ground level of the building, echoing as they made their way to a particular door. She could hear the gunfire outside as the Tekken Force were trying to fight their way through, Anna knew how they would know that a certain trio of men were in serious trouble. With two in captivity, it was only a matter of time before she would have captured the whole set.

She motioned for the three soldiers that were accompanying her to stop and she stood behind them.

"We'll wait here, I'm guessing that he'll be coming out of here," Anna explained and pulled out her own handgun that was strapped to her thigh.

The door was indeed an elevator, the only one that was at the underground lab and used for emergencies only to get the scientists out quickly. The elevator doors flew open and the target took a few steps out before stopping and looked around at the guns pointed at him. Steve Fox's jaw dropped at the sight of his aunt, pointing a gun at him and smiling sweetly.

"Hello Steve, nice to see you again," she said in her usual seductive manner. "Drop the gun and kick it away."

Steve bowed his head and sighed, allowing the cold metal to drop before kicking it away. Anna chuckled and began walking over to him.

"You aren't as stupid as your mother, usually she wouldn't have given up that easily. You made a wise choice," she continued, running a hand over his shoulder. "Your friends are waiting, let's go join them."

Anna motioned to the soldiers to grab Steve. Two of them rushed over and grabbed him roughly by the arms, locking him in.

"Take him to the interrogation room. I'll be up there in a moment."

The three soldiers took Steve away and Anna grabbed her phone out and dialled a number.

"We've captured the last of them, shall I start getting some answers from them?"

"_Do as you will, make sure those little bastards start talking," _Kazuya's voice spoke from the other end.

"Yes boss."

Anna hung up and walked off in the same direction as those soldiers.

* * *

_Location: Outside_

_Time: 1815hrs_

A few hours had passed since Eddy called Nina and since then, the number of wounded soldiers increased on both sides. However, he knew that they couldn't last much longer and they weren't getting any closer on getting inside. Eddy hoped that someone would come up with a good plan soon or risk being completely wiped out, leaving the Zaibatsu with limited numbers to defend a possible retaliation.

"Sir, the boss is coming," a Tekken soldier informed the Brazilian.

Turning around, he saw two motorcycles pull up into a sliding stop. Jin and Nina got off and rushed over. He ran over and met them halfway.

"Jin, things have got critical here," Eddy explained. "I just tried getting in contact with Steve and it appears that his communicator has been cut off."

"Shit," Nina said under her breath and the two men looked at her. "This isn't good. Chances are that they have captured him."

Jin looked at Eddy.

"I'll take care of things here," he told him. "You and Nina can take a small team and find a way to sneak in undetected. Get those three out alive if possible."

He nodded and looked at Nina.

"Do you know a way in?" Nina asked him.

Eddy looked away and pointed to the west side of the tower.

"There's a small air duct on the side, I don't know where it'll lead but that's our only entrance point…"

"It'll do, but we better go now before it's too late."

The duo walked away, collecting a small army of men and went on towards the tower.

* * *

_Location: Inside- Interrogation Room_

_Time: 1840hrs_

Paul's head whipped to the side as Anna hit him again with the handle of her pistol. He groaned in pain and looked at her with a narrowed gaze. This was the second occasion within a couple of weeks that he had been pulverised by either Anna or Nina and he was getting pretty tired of it, but at the same time he was enjoying as well.

"Now tell me, what are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice hard and harsh. "I won't ask again."

The large man spat blood out of his mouth and glared at her with hatred. Steve and Law, bloodied and bruised, watched on as they saw their friend being tortured. For their sake, they hoped that Paul would do the smart thing.

"Paul, just tell her," Law pleaded.

"Come on mate, how more punishment can you take?"

Anna looked at the two men and aimed her gun at Law's head.

"Keep quiet or I might have to do something that I may regret," she sneered before paying her attention back to Paul. "Tell me or else your friends are gonna get it."

"Bite me bitch! You don't scare me ya whore!"

Anna smirked and lifted up her leg, thrusting her heel into his crotch and caused him to cry out in agony. Steve and Law squinted and closed their eyes, feeling the pain of what could possibly happen to them. They had to act quick.

"I'll tell you," Steve spoke up and Anna glanced over. "I'll tell you everything. Just ask and I'll answer."

She smiled and removed her foot and sauntered over slowly. Kneeling down in front of Steve, she cupped his cheek and stared into his blue gaze.

"That's a good boy, but I could have kept going," she said softly. "It's not like he needed those anyway, he's useless. Maybe I should have turned him down all those years ago just like your mother."

Steve's face must have looked priceless at that moment as he gave Paul a glare that could easily match Nina's murderous gaze.

"You bastard…you tried to do my mother"

Paul coughed a little and replied in a weakened voice. Law just looked shocked at Steve as he admitted that Nina was his mother.

"Dude…you have one hot mother…and your aunt, well she just walks around with her…"

Anna gave Paul a tight-lipped glare as she fired a bullet from her gun, missing Paul's head by a hair. He jumped and began to shake a little.

"Next time, I won't miss," she snapped at him and then looked back at Steve. "Ok then, we'll do it your way. What was your purpose here? Was it to plant that bomb?"

Steve nodded and swallowed nervously.

"Yes…Jin Kazama and my mother sent us here," he replied.

"We almost had no choice in the matter," Law added.

"Yeah, they came to our hotel room and dragged us out."

Anna shook her head and sighed.

"My, my. Looks like my dear sister would use her own offspring to carry out such a dangerous job. Sounds like that she doesn't really love you…"

"At least I know what love is!"

Anna smiled, she was wondering when this person decided to show themselves.

"I was wondering when you would get here, Nina," Anna said and then turned around and stood up. "How can you possibly know love when you kill people."

Nina and Eddy walked into the room with four Tekken Force soldiers. Eddy motioned to two of them to watch the door and sent the other two to untie the captives before pointing his own rifle at Anna, who then dropped her weapon.

"At least I keep my legs closed, unlike you."

"I hear that again!" Paul added and both sisters looked at him. "That tramp was all over me once, it was hard to resist."

Nina chuckled and looked at her rival.

"You really are pathetic, Anna. Imagine what our father would be saying if he saw you now…"

"Shut up you bitch!" Anna screamed. "Maybe I shouldn't have saved your life during that cruise ship incident, maybe I should have let you explode along with it and perhaps I wouldn't have to deal with you…"

"You're not denying it," Nina continued her assault. "You probably fucked the people that you worked for…Kazuya, those executives from that organisation…I can't believe that you would even consider having your way with that Enrique Ortega guy, I find him repulsive…"

Anna's face twitched in anger as she picked up her gun and aimed it at Nina.

"I said shut up you bitch!"

Nina laughed and then fired a bullet into Anna's shoulder. The younger sister crumpled to the ground and screamed in pain.

"YOU BITCH!"

Nina turned around.

"I've had enough here, let's get out of here."

Eddy nodded at his partner and motioned for the soldiers to escort the three men out and followed them. Nina walked to the door and stopped to glance at Anna, sitting in a pool of her own blood.

"Just to quote from the escape off that boat…now we're even sis," she said before leaving.

Meanwhile on the helipad, Kazuya watched on as the Tekken Force retreated through a pair of binoculars. He watched as his three hostages were escaping into a van and then looked across to a raven-haired man in a long black coat. He smirked and removed the binoculars.

"So you've decided to show yourself," he said to himself. "We'll meet soon enough, my son." Grabbing the cell phone in his pocket he held it to his ear. "Organise a team and assemble at the airbase in ten minutes time. We're going to launch an attack on the enemy's research facility outside the city limits."

He hung up and crossed his arms. Now, all Kazuya could do was wait before making his move since now that Jin made his.

* * *

A/N: Nina finally got her revenge for being shot by Anna a few chapters ago. The next chapter shouldn't be too far away, I'm in the middle of writing it at the moment.


	9. New Alliances and Familiar Faces

A/N: Wow, just passed the 40,000 word mark and only nine chapters in with heaps more to go, well I'm intending to make this a 60,000+ story but if I keep writing at this rate this will top my Final Fantasy VIII fics as so far the words per chapter in this story far exceeds my other ones. Anyway, as I have previously mentioned in the last chapter, there will be references made about Death by Degrees even thought I know that the game isn't canon to the series, but for the purpose of this story we're going to pretend that they did happen before the first Tekken. Ok then, thanks for the reviews, story alerts and things of that nature, it's really inspiring to write for people that like this story :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: New Alliances and Familiar Faces**

_February 20__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Mishima Zaibatsu HQ_

_Time: 2108hrs_

Security was tightened as there was an increase of military presence, this was due to the events that had occurred over at G-Corporation. Jin had the feeling that the enemy would retaliate to the destruction of the underground research lab, but he was expecting that they would. It was like a game of tennis, the ball being hit back and forth until there was a winner and that is how the war was like. Jin had played his shot, now he was going to wait to see what his father might do now that the ball was in his court, there was no telling of what he might do.

After instructing his troops to take Steve and his friends to an unknown location for ensure their safety, Jin went straight to headquarters and sat in the throne room. Until he knows of Kazuya's next action of attack, all Jin could do was focus on the tournament. He wanted to face his father as soon as possible, but first there were other fighters for him to get through. All were strong competitors, but all had fallen short of the prize. However, Jin had the feeling that Kazuya would manage to get through them easily on his own accord, but he wanted to make sure that would be the case.

"You wanted to see me?" Nina asked from behind and she walked around to be in front of him.

Jin nodded and stood up, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I need you to do a favour for me during the tournament," he explained. "Not only are you to eliminate any threats to me, but also I want you to ensure that no one is to get into my father's way. Let him fight and if he loses, then eliminate the opponents."

The blonde woman looked shocked at this, never in her thoughts that Nina would think that Jin would even consider something like helping the one man that he hates in the entire world.

"But Jin, why would you request such a thing?" she protested. "Let someone else take care of him."

"He cannot be defeated by anyone else, only I have the power to take him down," the raven-haired replied. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Nina sighed and shook her head, holding her hands out in defeat.

"Alright then, have it your way. But just on one condition…I want to fight my sister," Nina said and placed her hands on her hips, a dangerous smirk on her face. "She won't let you get to your father that easily, and I just feel like slapping her around again."

Jin smiled.

"That can be arranged, I trust that you know what you're doing," he told her in a quiet voice. "Just do whatever it takes."

Nina nodded and folded her arms over her chest.

"But what about Lars? When are we going to start searching for him?"

"All in due time, but I'd like to see what his first moves are," Jin replied. "We don't know how dangerous this rebellion group will be to our operation. So once we get some more information, there's nothing we can really do…"

"Jin!" Eddy's voice rang out from the other side of the hall. The couple standing at the throne snapped their heads in his direction, watching as Eddy was half-running, half-walking towards them. "We've received reports of one of research facilities has been attacked."

Nina cast a worried glance at Jin before looking back at Eddy, placing a hand on her hip.

"What happened?" she asked.

Eddy shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know exactly, but I've sent a team to investigate," he replied. "Chances are it was G-Corporation retaliating to what happened earlier."

Jin closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He was expecting the enemy to attack, but not so soon. He had to see the damage for himself. Pulling out his cell phone, he held it up to his ear.

"Have the chopper ready, I'll be there in five minutes." Jin cut off the phone and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Nina asked as she watched him leave. He didn't stop and she glanced over to Eddy. "Come on, we'll go too."

He nodded and followed the blonde woman.

* * *

_Location: Millennium Tower- G-Corporation HQ_

_Time: 2153hrs_

"Boss, our attack failed," Bruce Irvin informed his boss. "It was like they were expecting us."

Kazuya leaned back in his chair and gazed out the window down at the city. He knew that Jin wouldn't have had enough time to send a team out to that research facility to protect it, he could sense that there was something else going on. Kazuya had heard the rumours of the entire 1st Division of the Tekken Force rebelling against their leader, but whether if that was true or not was another case.

"They're not the Tekken Force," Kazuya replied and spun around on his chair, looking at the dark man. "Rumour has it that they're a team that rebelled against Jin. So obviously they were there to launch an attack of their own."

Bruce nodded.

"Yes, also we had encountered suited agents. Chances are they were a special unit of his military," he explained. "But we're not going to get to Kazama too easily, especially now that he has that assassin as his bodyguard."

Kazuya smirked and picked up his phone.

"I want you to go down to the medical ward and inform Miss Williams that I'll be contacting that sweeper that she informed me of," he told him and dialled the number. "It's time that Nina Williams met her match."

Bruce nodded and made his leave. Kazuya leaned back and looked back out the window.

"_Hello, who is this?" _A British accent answered.

"This is Kazuya Mishima, I need to hire a sweeper to take care of someone for me."

"_A sweeper? Well only person has called me that once before, a long time ago. Who is it?" _

"Meet me at the front of Millennium Tower at midnight and I'll explain everything."

"…_Understood Mr. Mishima. I look forward to meeting you in person."_

* * *

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu Cold Sleep Research Facility_

_Time: 2313hrs_

A familiar sensation filled Nina's body as she walked down the ruined corridor, chilling her to the bone. As she accompanied Jin and Eddy, she took notice of her surroundings and then suddenly realised that this was once her home for almost twenty years. The sound of her screaming and struggling was echoing through her head as they neared the lab in which she was imprisoned in that glass tube.

"What a mess," Nina stated as she continued to scan around.

The trio stopped as a Tekken Force soldier approached from behind, saluting and gazed around at the group.

"We're certain now that a rebel army was behind this raid," the soldier explained. "The G-Corporation attacked them in the process and it looks like both sides were annihilated."

It was obvious to Nina now that perhaps the rumour of the rebellion was now coming to light. Maybe they were up against another enemy that had dared to oppose the Mishima Zaibatsu, the last thing that Jin really needed at the moment after this devastation.

"But we haven't found a single rebel body, including their leader, Lars," the soldier continued. "Also, everything is like this due to the explosion."

Nina looked away for a moment, it was strange. It had seemed that the rebels were able to survive an explosion that had managed to deal major damage to the facility. This was a real concern to her as she knew that the enemy could attack again unexpectedly.

"There's one thing that's bothering me, though," the soldier said and Nina looked back at him. "Apparently…the Secret Service was guarding the lab at the time."

Eddy narrowed his eyes slightly and looked over his shoulder at his boss. Nina hummed lightly and placed a hand on her chin. She knew for a fact that the Secret Service wouldn't be at the facility without the orders from…

"Well that's strange," she pondered. "The lab has its own security force. The Secret Service wouldn't be there."

"But when we checked the ID's on the bodies we found, everyone was Secret Service," the soldier assured her.

The blonde assassin couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though she had only been working for Jin for such a short period of time, he had told her everything. His plans, his troops and basically everything there was to know about the Mishima Zaibatsu. Slowly, she turned to look at him and saw that he was in deep thought, arms crossed and his eyes were closed.

"The Secret Service is your unit," she said in a hard tone and then placed her hands onto her hips. "Care to explain?"

Jin didn't answer her and remained still like a statue. Nina sighed lightly before looking back at the soldier.

"Anything else?"

"On the same day, a large amount of data was uploaded from headquarters to the server here," the soldier explained. "I checked with intelligence, but they were unable to trace the source as well as the logs."

Nina hummed again and exhaled deeply.

"I don't like the sound of that," she replied. "Keep investigating."

The soldier saluted.

"Understood!"

He rushed off, leaving the trio to themselves once again. Both Nina and Eddy turned to their boss and gazed at him. The whole situation appeared to be a turn for the worst, but Jin appeared to remain composed.

"So what now?" Eddy asked, in a rather assertive manner. "They're another Tekken Force that we're talking about. We can't afford to have them running loose."

"I'll handle it," Jin replied calmly. "But now is not the time."

Eddy couldn't believe it, if he was in Jin's position then he wouldn't be waiting to find the rebels. But, Jin appeared that he wasn't going to do anything.

"They're not kidding around," the Brazilian man continued. "Are you gonna wait 'til it's too late? We've already lost two key positions."

"And we lost them because your defence was weak," Jin stated in a cold manner.

Eddy scoffed, feeling insulted, there was no way in hell that he would have known that Lars would rebel and end up taking an entire division.

"What?"

Furious, Eddy took a few steps forward before an arm flew out in front of him. Looking over, he saw Nina shake her head and stopped him from a possible confrontation from getting out of hand.

Sighing, Jin pulled out his phone.

"Bring the chopper around," he said before ending the call. Stuffing the phone back inside his jacket, he started to walk down the corridor.

"Going somewhere?" Nina asked out of curiosity.

Jin walked past her.

"You know where."

Nina turned around and began to follow him until he stopped, casting a glance at Eddy.

"You wanted me to save your master's life. I did my share."

Eddy sighed and looked ahead.

"I know I'll hold up my end of the deal."

Jin looked away and smirked a little.

"Glad to hear it," Jin replied before walking away with Nina and all Eddy could do was watch them leave.

* * *

_February 21st 2008_

_Location: Millennium Tower- Outside_

_Time: 0005hrs_

A man in a long black trench coat stood at the door, his arms were crossed as he leaned up against the door. He couldn't be seen in the shadows, all except for the streak of gray hairs on either side of his head. Hearing footsteps, he emerged out of the shadow and stood in full view of the moonlight and watched as Kazuya Mishima and Anna Williams, whose arm was in a sling from her wound, approached him. Stopping next to her boss, Anna couldn't help but smile as she was looking at a face that she hasn't seen for over twenty years.

"I see that you're still as handsome as ever," Anna said. "Time obviously hasn't damaged your good looks."

The man smirked as he looked the brunette woman up and down.

"Miss Williams, it's been…too long," he replied. "Tell me, is your injury because of…"

Anna nodded and the man chuckled lightly.

"Ah, I see. Things haven't changed between the two of you since then," he continued and looked over to Kazuya. "So, who's my target?"

Kazuya pulled out a file from his jacket and handed it to the dark-haired man.

"Ah, Nina Williams, a fellow sweeper and assassin…haven't seen her for a long time," the man said with amazement and looked back up at Kazuya. "Well, I do ask for a heavy price you know?"

Kazuya smirked and handed up a briefcase.

"I think the amount in here will be adequate. Just get the job done and depending on how well you do it, I'll give you a bonus."

Grabbing the case, the mysterious man opened it and his eyes widened slightly, the amount of money in the case would be enough to place and average person into early retirement. Closing it, he looked up and held his hand out.

"Well, I guess we have a deal then," Kazuya said and gripped the man's hand. "Can I ask for your name?"

The man looked at Anna and smiled before looking back at his new client.

"Edgar Grant, at your service."

* * *

_March 3__rd__ 2008_

_Location: Tokyo Hotel Reception_

_Time: 1100hrs_

The reception area of the hotel was completely filled out, more than usual. Well over fifty of the world's top fighters had gathered around one small area, and why? Because it was the time of the King of Iron Fist tournament 6 and each fighter had gathered to find out who they were fighting, pushing and shoving. It was like that at the beginning of every tournament, each of the fighters were there for their own personal reasons and would try anything to achieve their desires.

Even the loud-mouthed individuals were that fired up that they started taunting one another.

"I'm gonna be the toughest in the universe!" Paul screamed out, pummelling his fist into his chest.

Loud stomping was heard from behind him and the large man whipped around to meet the chest of the even larger Craig Marduk.

"Yeah right, you're nothing but talk old man," he taunted and raised a fist in the air. "You'll have to get through me first."

Far from the crowd, a young Brazilian woman sighed as she watched this unfold. Christie Monteiro didn't care much about competition, even during her first tournament she was driven by searching for something. Last tournament she sought to find a way to cure her grandfather's illness, and failed. The fourth tournament she was in pursuit of Eddy. Now, she had to find the two closest men in her life, both of which disappeared without a trace shortly after the previous tournament.

"Christie," a British voice came from behind her. Turning around, she saw Steve Fox lean up against the pole at she was standing at. "Wanted to get away from the crowd I see."

She gave him a weak smile before turning back to look at the gathering.

"It's just too competitive," she said. "Besides, there's other things on my mind to even worry about…"

"Hey! They're coming!" The voice of Hwoarang called out as he pointed to the main door and both Steve and Christie looked over to the commotion.

A blonde haired woman and a tall, dark skinned man walked in, a sheet of paper firmly in the grip of the woman. They walked through the crowd and to a pole, attaching the sheet of paper. Turning around, the woman removed her glasses and revealed herself as Nina.

"These are the first round draws!" Nina announced. "They have your location and the times of each fight. All the final matches will be held in the arena downtown. If you do not arrive on time to your fight, you will be disqualified. Good luck."

Nina and the man walked through the crowd and headed out the hotel. Before leaving, the man removed his glasses as he looked around and then noticed Christie standing at the far side with Steve. She looked in his direction and then he left.

The young woman gasped and looked to the ground. Steve saw this and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?"

She looked up and gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I guess so…Never mind, let's go and check out the draw."

As they walked over, they heard a couple of loud voices.

"Look out Kazuya Mishima!" Paul Phoenix roared. "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Who the fuck is Lars Alexandersson?" Hwoarang exclaimed.

The crowd eventually cleared as the fighters retreated to their room, allowing Steve and Christie to find out who they were fighting.

Christie checked the list for her name first, once she found it towards the bottom of the sheet, she swallowed a little. Her first match was against Nina Williams, a well known assassin that could kill a human effortlessly.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

"It's nothing, just hoped that I wouldn't have to fight this person."

Steve looked over the list and saw that Christie was matched up against Nina, his mother. He couldn't really blame her, anyone matched up against an assassin was a daunting thing. Next, he checked the list and saw that he was paired up with Eddy Gordo.

"Who have you got?" Christie asked him.

Looking at her, Steve gave Christie a weak smile. She had told him after the fifth tournament about Eddy and how he taught her to fight, how she felt when he left and then suddenly returned. This was the same man that he had worked alongside with.

Instead of waiting for an answer, Christie checked the list and her eyes widened as she saw the names. Looking up at Steve, she pleaded with him.

"Steve, when you go to fight him, please take with you…"

Sighing, Steve shook his head.

"No, perhaps I could talk to him for you. That way he can't push you away."

Christie bowed her head in defeat and closed her eyes. Maybe it was for the best.

"Get whatever information from him, but you have to tell me everything."

Steve nodded and turned around.

"I promise."

She heard him leave and then looking up with a small smile on her face.

"I'm not going to give up," she said quietly. "I'm going that fight and talk to him after."

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Mishima Zaibatsu HQ_

_Time: 1157hrs_

Nina and Eddy walked up the red carpeted aisle of the throne room towards Jin, who was sitting in his throne watching them approach. The past couple of weeks leading up to the tournament had settled down since the incident at the research facility. He had figured that his father was probably busy preparing himself for the battle ahead.

"We need to get security for the hotel," Nina said as she stood at Jin's right side. "I thought that the fighters were going to start a brawl any minute."

Jin smiled a little.

"Just remember to do your job Nina and things will go according to plan," he told her. "Even though you have a tough first fight ahead of you."

Eddy looked at her.

"Who are you against?"

Sighing, Nina looked at him.

"I'm afraid I'm fighting your master's granddaughter."

Eddy's eyes widened and he bowed his head.

'Christie…'

Eddy looked at her again.

"Make sure you don't hurt her too badly, or otherwise I can't forgive myself…"

The assassin allowed herself a small smirk. Obviously Christie meant a great deal to Eddy for him to care for her so. Nina supposed that she started to feel something for her long-lost son, highly evident by the way that she reacted when Jin informed Steve and his friends of the mission at G-Corporation.

"Don't worry, I'll end it quick," she replied. "Just make sure you don't hurt Steve too bad either."

Eddy nodded and made his leave without Jin's permission.

"You be careful out there," Jin told her once the door closed, reaching out to grab her hand.

Nina looked down at him and gave a small smirk.

"My, my does Jin Kazama really care about his personal bodyguard that much he's telling her to be careful?"

He stood up and pulled her in, her cheek was on his chest.

"I'm serious, I wouldn't know what I would do without you if anything…"

Placing a finger on his lips, she hushed him quiet before reaching around the back of his head and buried her fingers into his hair.

"Nothing is going to happen, I can promise you that," she whispered softly. "I'm an assassin and that's why you have hired me because I can get myself out of any situation and protect myself. So there is no need to worry."

Removing her hand from his hand, she wrapped her arm around his neck and kept the other hand tangled in his hair. Nina then brought her lips gently onto his and automatically Jin wrapped his arms around her, and they remained like that for a while.

* * *

A/N: Just to answer any possible questions about the scene at the laboratory, I looked up on youtube for the Scenario Campaign cutscene (because I don't own the game because I don't have a PS3) and used it, so I will be using small extracts and scenes of the game to help link this side story. Anyhow, it looks like our favourite blonde assassin will have an encounter from someone from her past, and will she and Eddy keep their promises to one another in relation to their respective opponents? More will be revealed soon enough as I release more chapters.


	10. We Meet Again…Sweeper

A/N: Been a while since I last updated, but I've been busy with other things and I wanted to take my time with particular chapter as I wanted to make it longer. Anyway, thanks to those that have added this story to their favourites since the last update and hopefully there will be more in the future. Thanks again for the reviews and please keep them coming :) This particular chapter will probably have the most reference to Death by Degrees than any other chapter in this fic, just thought I should point that out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco, so is Death by Degrees.

* * *

**We Meet Again…Sweeper**

_Twenty Four Years Ago…_

_The sound of struggling could be heard through the corridors of this dark, abandoned prison as the footsteps grew louder and louder as they neared the main cell block. The old wooden door flew open and four uniformed guards emerge, a woman in a purple infiltration suit, torn to shreds, secured tightly by the arms was pushed along as they entered. _

_Nina thought that she was going to escape the clutches of the enemy and to pursue her new target, but instead she found herself in captivity…again. They wasted no time in taking her to an upstairs cell, rotted and decayed from many years of abandonment and the stench was just unbearable as half-eaten meals remained and leaking sewage flooded the ground. Once they dragged her in there, the men secured her arms to the chair and stood back._

"_Time to get to work," one of them said and motioned to one of his comrades, who brought over some sort of weapon. He grabbed it before smirking at the blonde. "I think I'm going to enjoy this, now talk…who do you work for?"_

_Spitting the blood out of her mouth, caused by her earlier confrontation, Nina glared at the guard and narrowed her eyes, spitting out acid. _

"…_Fuck you…"_

_Disgusted, the guard scowled before holding out his weapon, which Nina could see now was a tonfa, and in an instant there was electricity covering it. Without hesitation, the guard touched the tip of it onto the woman's shoulder and she screamed in agony. _

"_Now! We are going to try this again!" he said forcefully and removed the weapon. "Who do you work for?" _

_Nina shook her head and it wasn't the answer that he was hoping for so he zapped her again. The assassin screamed again as the electricity flowed through her body like the current in a river, circulating continuously and she knew that she couldn't hold on much longer. After a while, she blacked out and the world soon became non-existant…_

* * *

_Present Day…_

_March 4__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 0657hrs_

"Ahhh!" Nina screamed loudly as she woke from her slumber, cold sweat covered her body and her breathing was hitched.

After a minute or so, Nina began to recognise her surroundings and realise that she was in her room, far away from that god-forsaken place that she hoped that she would never have to see again. To be honest, Nina never thought about her capture all those years ago until now for some unknown reason, but why now she wondered. Sure, she had decided to help the two government agencies in exchange for her release after they arrested her at her apartment for an assassination committed hours before. At first she was reluctant, but then realised that Anna would gain some form of satisfaction if she ever heard that her older sister was imprisoned and they both hadn't seen each other for just over a year.

"Just can't escape the past," she muttered before throwing off the sheets and threw her legs over the side so that slender feet touched the cool ground. "Hmph, who cares those bastards are dead anyway and I got the job done, so why am I even thinking about this?"

Standing up and stretching, Nina looked at herself in the full-length mirror that was on the wall opposite her. It had been awhile since she had looked at her reflection and it appeared to her that she hadn't slept for days, which was near the truth due to her nightmares. Deciding that a shower was the best thing to wake her up, the blonde removed her clothes and went into the bathroom, turning on the showerhead and stepping in to meet the hot spray on her skin. Turning around and allowing the water to untie the knots of tension in her shoulders and neck, Nina closed her eyes and rolled her head back, trying to forget and focus on what she had to do later.

She had fought Christie once before, during the fourth tournament, but halfway through the fight the officials had to stop it due to a mysterious reshuffle to the draw and the fight ended and immediately they had to go to their new opponents. From what she could remember, the Brazilian woman was quick on her feet, but her striking couldn't compare to that of the assassin. Actually, Nina was about to win the fight as she had Christie in a chokehold after working her entire body.

'I need to end it quickly,' she thought to herself. 'I promised Eddy that I won't hurt her too badly.'

Soon, Nina forgot all about her nightmare, but she wasn't aware that the past wasn't going to just disappear easily. Somehow, the past had always had a way to bite her back on the ass, just look at her and Anna, a rivalry that had been ongoing since childhood and even during that two year absence between meeting her again prior to the fifth tournament didn't soften things. But there was no way that memory could come back to haunt her, those people were killed by her own two hands…all except one, but she saw his body being pumped with lead by that psychotic woman…

_Twenty Four Years Ago…_

_His pistol was squarely aimed for Nina's head, but his face showed regret for what he was about to do. She should feel betrayed, but Nina didn't feel surprised that the one person that was supposedly had been working with her the entire time was in fact the enemy. Perhaps when she had jumped onto that helicopter to escape the ship in the first place she could make out his facial features on the pilot…it was him all along. _

_Quickly looking over to the right, she saw the dead woman standing there, her gun secured in her grip. _

'_How in hell is she still standing?' Nina thought. 'He sunk a few bullets into her and that's enough to kill anyone.'_

_Diving to the side, behind the rose-covered bed, Nina flipped onto her back and watched on as the woman discharged her rounds into the dark-haired man's body. _

"_I'll see you in hell!" The white haired woman screamed._

_He fell against the wall and slid down it, leaving a crimson trail along it. The killer grabbed the silver case nearby and escape via the elevator in the corner. Nina waited until she left before getting up and approaching her former partner. _

'_It's too late, he's already gone.'_

But even if he did survive, there was no way that he would have gotten out in time since that self-destruct sequence was activated and there was a short amount of time to escape. However, Nina had always wondered afterwards who would have activated that order in the first place…

"Forget it, why am I still thinking about this?" she snapped her eyes open and groaned in frustration. Choosing to ignore it and enjoy her shower, Nina went back to thinking about her fight.

* * *

_Location: Tokyo Hotel- Buffet Room_

_Time: 1022hrs_

"Damn guys, how much do you have to eat?" Steve asked as he sat at the end of the table, watching Paul, Law and Hwoarang devour their third large plate of the morning. The three of them looked up at him, obvious that they still had food in their mouths.

"A lot," they replied in unison and resumed to satisfying their appetite. Steve sighed and looked around the room. The majority of the fighters had gathered in there, with the exception of those associated with the problems occurring between G-Corporation and the Mishima Zaibatsu. Eventually his eyes lingered over to a table where Christie was sitting at, chatting away happily with some Spanish-looking guy. Steve still remembered their conversation, telling her to keep away from his encounter with Eddy, promising her to get the information that she needed.

But why was he doing it? He was going to do this as favour because they were friends, or was there something more behind the scenes. No way, he thought at first. Sure, she was an attractive woman…no, make that the most beautiful woman that Steve had ever laid his eyes upon. But being the gentleman that he was, he knew that Christie had her eyes on the man that on numerous occasions had disappeared from her life, the man that Steve had worked with during the Mishima Zaibatsu's conquest. No, Steve knew better than to just waltz in before he knew for certain that this attraction that she had towards Eddy was going to work or not.

"Hey, stop undressing her with your eyes!" Hwoarang told him, forcing Steve to snap out of his daze. The red-haired Korean got up and knelt down beside him. "Why don't you just ask her out?"

Steve looked at him and shook his head.

"No, she has her eyes on someone else," he replied.

Hwoarang sighed.

"Ok the, so you're not into the hot Brazilian types but fuck…you need to get laid, and quick," he rambled on. "I guess that you're into the blondes…slender, curved…hey I think I know someone like that in the previous tournaments, she's Kazama's bodyguard and maybe we could try and…"

The boxer's jaw tightened and he sent a left punch to land square onto the Korean's face. Hwoarang felt his nose break as he sprawled onto the ground, the entire room stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at the two young men in utter silence. The red-haired man wiped across his upper lip and saw his own blood before glaring up at Steve with malice glinting in his eyes.

"What the fuck?"

"That's my mother you're referring to you sick pervert!"

Hwoarang's eyes widened.

"You're kidding me right? That hot blonde woman with Kazama is your mother?" he exclaimed. "There is no way that she could be because she looks old enough to be your sister…Oh man, all this time I've been dreaming about your mother and I…"

Steve shook his head and walked away. Hwoarang stumbled up and leaned up against the table, noticing that everyone was glaring at him.

"What? I bet the majority of the males in here has ogled at both Nina and Anna Williams," he stated, watching at most of the males going red in the face. "I mean come on, anyone who hasn't thought of them being the two hottest women that they had ever laid their eyes upon, then I think you're seriously gay!"

Eventually everyone resumed their activities from before and Hwoarang sat down in the chair that Steve recently had vacated.

"At least I'm not the only one," Paul said and Hwoarang nodded before the duo looked over at Law. "Well, what about you?"

Law looked up and gazed at the two of them.

"Can't say that I have, I've been in a long, happy marriage and that thought hadn't even crossed my mind."

Their jaws dropped as they looked at each other. Law sighed and stood up.

"And next time, I'd suggest that you don't talk about her like that when Steve's around," he continued and pushed his chair in. "I would have done the same thing in his situation."

He walked off and left the still stunned Paul and Hwoarang to continue conversing about their respective fantasies.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 1211hrs_

Jin sat behind his desk, staring up at the LCD screen that attached to the ceiling. He had cameras installed in the major rooms of the hotel that the fighters were staying at downtown and continued to flick through, but found that a lot of them had left already to their first round matches. Clicking the button on the remote again, he found the first fight between Marshall Law and Craig Marduk, in which Law had it all over the larger man and the fight soon finished after Law performed his signature backflipper and knocked Marduk out.

"That was quick," Eddy spoke from behind, leaning up against the wall already dressed in his green and gold fighting attire.

Jin didn't respond and went to the next channel, watching a familiar Korean man stand there with his arms crossed, looking impatient. Leaning forward to his computer, Jin noticed that Hwoarang was meant to be fighting Lars, but obviously the former officer of his army was nowhere to be seen and was late. Sighing, he picked up the phone and pressed a button for an official.

"Inform Hwoarang that he has won by the automatic disqualification of Mr. Alexandersson."

He hung up the phone and leaned back. Behind him, Eddy shook his head and crossed his arms, never he had thought that Lars would pass up an opportunity to confront Jin. But there was the indication that he was up to something.

"Looks like we have to locate him another way," Eddy stated.

Jin held his hand up and smirked a little as he flicked over another channel.

"Don't worry, I think I know of a way to track him down," he reassured and pressed a button on his desk.

Instantly, a red beacon bleeped on the computer screen on the map of Japan that appeared. Amazed, Eddy whistled a little and smiled in satisfaction. Obviously Jin had a plan after all.

"The android that left with him was installed with a tracking device, and a camera so I can see his movements, hear his conversations," Jin explained and looked back up at the screen. "Hmm…it appears that your student hasn't showed up to her fight."

Eddy looked up and saw that Nina was alone, arms crossed and she looked pretty frustrated. Why wasn't Christie there? But Eddy thought in a way that it was a good thing that she didn't show up, that way she couldn't get hurt by the assassin. Well, at least Nina held up her end of the deal and he figured he'd better hold up his. Getting off the wall, he walked to the front of the desk.

"Time to go prepare for my fight," he said and left.

Jin didn't watch him leave and flicked the channel once Nina left camera view. Next, he saw Ling Xiaoyu get knocked onto the ground by Asuka Kazama, his cousin. For the past year, he had dealt with these two since they were both out to try and stop Jin, to interfere with his plans. Numerous times they both had tried to break into headquarters, but Jin had security to escort them out and at one occasion to tell them to stop or otherwise risk getting hurt by his path of destruction. Sure, he hated himself for hurting an old friend and his cousin, but it had to be done. However, he cannot allow either one of them to progress through the tournament and as he watched Asuka win, he picked up the phone and dialled number.

"_Yes, Mr. Kazama?"_

"For the next round, I want Nina Williams to fight Asuka Kazama," Jin instructed. "That is all."

"_Yes boss."_

Jin hung up before picking up again, dialling Nina's number.

"_Jin? What's going on?"_

"Nina, I want you to go to the fight between my father and Paul Phoenix," Jin said as he flicked the button on the remote, a picture of Paul and Kazuya appeared. "They've already started, but I need you to be there in case Paul gets the upper hand so that you can make sure that my father wins."

"_No problem, I look forward to having fun with Paul again," _Nina replied. _"Since my opponent didn't even show up." _

"I trust that you'll get the job done, Nina."

Jin hung up and sat back, watching the fight unfold before him.

* * *

_Location: Urban War Zone- Destroyed Freeway_

_Time: 1343hrs_

A purple streak raced across the abandoned freeway, trying to use the various military vehicles as a barrier to avoid detection. Her target, the two men fighting a couple hundred metres away, throwing punches and kicks at one another. Eventually, Nina jumped down into a hole in the ground, made by conflict between the two military forces a while ago and no one had dared to enter the urban war zone. Jin obviously had thought that this would make a perfect place to have a fight, and he wasn't wrong.

Looking up at a barrier that rested on the edge of the hole, Nina saw a camera and smiled a little.

'I guess that Jin is really watching over this tournament,' she thought. 'No wonder why he had sent me over here in the first place.'

Peeking her head out of the hole, Nina watched on as Kazuya sent a fist towards Paul's face. Unfortunately, he missed and seeing this as an opportunity, Paul proceeded to sweeping the other man's legs out from under him and was successful. Kazuya was in mid-air and Paul started to wind himself up, Nina knew what Paul was about to do and if he's successful then it's over. Quickly, she pulled out a handgun that she had strapped to her thigh and attached the silencer. Aiming at Paul's leg, she fired and managed to lodge one bullet into his left thigh and the other into his foot.

"Ugh! What the hell?" Paul screamed out in pain. Kazuya landed on the ground with a heavy thump.

Groaning in pain, Kazuya propped himself up onto his elbows and saw what was in front of him. Paul was bleeding badly and all Kazuya could do was smirk. Time to deal the finishing blow…

Jumping up onto his feet, he drove a massive punch into the wounded man's stomach, making the air escape and he slouched over before meeting a right knee, square into his face. Paul fell over backwards onto his back, knocked out. Kazuya stood up straight and crossed his arms, the long fight was over.

"Pathetic," he said. "But at least he lasted for a while."

Satisfied with his victory, he walked off and Nina watched this. Happy enough with the result, she grabbed her phone and dialled Jin's number.

"He won," Nina said.

"_I knew I could count on you Nina, I watched it all on camera."_

Nina chuckled a little and looked up at the camera.

"I've noticed your little camera, I'm impressed."

"_I just wanted to watch over things to make sure nothing interferes with my plans," _Jin explained. _"Come back to headquarters and rest, you've done well. In the meanwhile, I'll send an ambulance to collect Mr. Phoenix."_

"Sure thing boss, I'll be there soon."

Nina terminated the call and put her phone away. Grabbing onto the edge, she managed to pull herself up and made way towards a nearby motorcycle. Perhaps this job wasn't so hard after all, she had prevented Kazuya from losing and allowed him to take another step forward to fighting Jin and she managed to do it undetected. But it was also satisfying enough for her to sink a bullet or two into Paul Phoenix, but she had to do it in order to complete her job.

'Oh well, nothing to do now but to prepare for my next fight,' Nina thought as she stopped at the motorcycle. She was about to climb on, but a noise stopped her. 'Hmm, what was that?'

Looking around upon hearing footsteps, the assassin found that nothing was there. Maybe it was Kazuya, but Nina figured that he would be long gone and plus he took off in the other direction. Shrugging her shoulders, she spun back around and wasn't expecting for about what she was about to see. Instantly, her face went pale as she laid her eyes upon a person that she had thought died a long time ago.

"We meet again, sweeper."

Nina's eyes widened, she hadn't had anyone call her that for about twenty-four year. As she continued to look at the dark-haired man, dressed in a black bodysuit, another memory came to light…

_Twenty Four Years Ago…_

_Nina watched the weakened woman in front of her, struggling to keep herself upright. He sweeper too did feel weakened from the fight, her hand bled from earlier and continued to throb. Footsteps rang from behind her and the next sequence of actions became a blur._

"_Edgar?" the woman spoke in that high-pitched voice of hers. _

_Gunshots were fired and she fell to the ground in a pool of her own blood. Nina narrowed her eyes slightly and spun around, meeting the barrel of the man's pistol. It was him all this time, he was the enemy. _

"_Edgar Grant," Nina said coldly. "I suppose that's an alias too."_

"_What can I say," he replied. _

_Nina began to figure out that since Edgar could lie about his identity, then perhaps he could be lying about his job too._

"_You're a sweeper as well." _

"_Thanks to Lukas, everything went wrong," Edgar explained. "I'll have to destroy this ship as well…I don't want to do this, but I have no choice but to erase everything." _

_Nina maintained her glare, not once to feel intimidated. He took a step forward._

"_We don't want any…publicity," he continued and sighed. "Originally, you were supposed to survive in order to bear witness to my 'death.'"_

_Gripping the gun harder, he prepared himself. Nina moved her gaze slightly to the woman was collapsed on the bed, noticing that she was moving and reached out for one of the handguns in her dead lover's hands.. _

"_It's truly unfortunate it has to end this way…"_

_Nina gave him one last look before diving onto the ground. _

"_I'll see you in hell!" the woman screamed and fired her gun just as Nina hit the ground. The bullets pierced Edgar's chest and he was thrown up against the wall and slid down it to leave a crimson trail._

"How…how did you…"

Edgar chuckled held his gun up at Nina. She could defiantly tell it has been a while since they last met. She figured that he would be around fifty years of age by now, grey streaks of hair appeared along the side, but his facial features still remained as they were twenty four years ago.

"Fortunate enough for me, I was wearing a bulletproof vest," he replied. "But the force was enough to knock me out for a few minutes and during that time when you confronted Lana Lei, I was able to get to the ship's bridge and activate the self-destruct sequence. From there, I was able to escape via one of the rescue boats."

The blonde assassin looked down the barrel, maintaining her hard glare.

"So why are you here? Come to finish the job?"

The dark-haired man shook his head and gripped the gun tighter.

"No, I was hired by Kazuya Mishima to eliminate you…because you're Jin Kazama's bodyguard."

Nina smirked.

"Obviously Kazuya can't even do his own dirty work," she said and crossed her arms. "Maybe he should have killed me when he had the chance twenty two years ago."

"So I take it that this isn't the first time he's had trouble with you?"

Nina shook her head.

"I was part of a cryogenic experiment and was frozen for nearly about twenty years," Nina explained. "That's why Anna and I look the same as we did back then."

He chuckled some more and suddenly his gaze turned cold and hard. It was time for business and Nina knew that she had to do something…and quick. Unfolding her arms, she held them to her side and her left hand was within reach of the knife strapped to her thigh.

"I'm truly sorry Nina, but I need to do this," Edgar said sincerely. "Please forgive me."

The blonde shook her head.

"I just can't do that," she replied, coldly. "The way that you betrayed me is more than enough not to. I still have a score to settle…"

He raised an eyebrow and was about to shoot until he felt something sharp impaled itself into his left arm. Quicker than he could pull the trigger, Nina had unsheathed her knife and had thrown it at him. Edgar dropped his handgun and knelt down on the ground and his arm throbbed as his heart began to pump faster and increased the blow flow. This gave Nina the perfect opportunity to escape as she jumped onto the motorcycle and turned on the engine before taking off at breakneck speed and left the wounded man alone in that deserted war zone.

* * *

_Location: Cemetery _

_Time: 2039hrs_

Strapping up his boxing gloves, Steve looked around as the owls continued to hoot into the darkness. He began to wonder why Jin Kazama would even consider a graveyard as a spot to have a fight, it was actually giving the British man the creeps and Eddy only had one more minute to get there or otherwise Steve wins by default.

'Damn, where is that guy?' he asked himself.

Well he hoped that Eddy would at least make an appearance, he promised Christie that he would talk to him. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps behind him and braced himself to confront whoever it was, it was a cemetery and it could be anyone and if he wasn't careful, well then things could be very confrontational to say the least. Not taking that chance, as the footsteps grew closer behind him, Steve threw his fist at the assailant and then stopped just a few inches from their nose. He stopped because the person was Eddy.

"Good," he said and retracted his fist. "You're here."

Eddy nodded.

"Well then, let's get this over and done with," the Brazilian man replied evenly and got into his fighting stance. Steve shook his head.

"But before we get into that, there's something I need to ask you."

Eddy stopped moving and stood up straight, crossing his arms.

"Ok, what is it?"

"Eddy!"

Steve and Eddy cringed upon hearing the female voice echo from behind them. The blonde haired man swore inwardly after he told her specifically to stay away. Christie appeared in front of them, breathing heavily as she had been running. Eddy sighed and looked at her.

"Christie, what are you doing here?"

Placing a hand on her hip, she gave him a hard look.

"For starters, where have you been? Gone for a year and not telling me where you were," she replied, sounding slightly panicked. "Secondly, what have you done with my grandfather?"

Eddy held his palm out. He was going to tell her everything once his services to Jin were no longer needed, but as long as his master was under the care of the Mishima Zaibatsu and the treatment being funded by Jin, Eddy had no choice but to continue serving under him.

"I will tell you everything, eventually," Eddy explained. "But now is not the right time…"

"When is the right time?" Christie asked him, her voice slightly raised. "How do I know that you're doing the right thing by him? For goodness sake, he's terminally ill and now I might not have the opportunity to see him before he might pass on!"

Eddy sighed and watched as the young woman fell to her knees, crying. He felt his heart sink then, but still he had a job to do.

"I can assure you, he's under the best possible care," Eddy said to her. "He's over at the Mishima Zaibatsu, Jin's funding the treatment with the condition that I work for him until the treatment is no longer required. I'm sorry that I couldn't have told you earlier."

He looked over to Steve.

"You can have this round. Look after her for me until I return," he continued and gave Christie one last look. "I will come back, and stay with you for good…I promise you Christie, but I still have a debt to pay."

Turning around, he walked down the path. Steve sighed, this wasn't the way that he wanted to win, but maybe it was for the best. He still had a chance of winning the tournament for his friends and that was something that he was looking forward to. But for now, his attention was on the woman crying on the ground. Kneeling down beside her, he tried to catch her eyes.

"Is there…anything you want me to do?"

Christie shook her head and wrapped her arms around Steve's muscular torso and cried into his shoulder.

"Just hold me, I don't want to be alone at the moment."

Complying, Steve wrapped his own arms around her and allowed Christie to continue crying into his shoulder.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done. Hopefully I should have another chapter up shortly, but I'm also thinking about trying to wrap up my Final Fantasy fic A.S.A.P as I have left it for too long, but don't worry I won't be abandoning this story, I just have to stretch myself out over two stories for the meantime. Until next chapter :)


	11. Tracking

A/N: Hello all and here is another update. This chapter will feature another scene or two from Scenario Campaign and a character who everyone thought that had died will be seen alive and well. Anyway, read on and please keep those reviews coming, I'm glad to see so many of you enjoying this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Tracking**

_March 5__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Quarters_

_Time: 0013hrs_

They were both fast asleep on the large wooden bed, wrapped in each other's arms and still fully clothed. Just a couple of hours ago they decided to come there after spending time to plan the next course of action and that was when Jin told her about the android that Lars met at the research facility.

"_So you had intended this to happen, didn't you?" Nina asked him as she sat across from him. The two of them were in Jin's office discussing Azazel's Temple and Jin was telling her the history of the mystical creature. _

_Jin shook his head. _

"_No, I did not plan for Lars to go there and take it," he replied and smiled. "It is, however, a coincidence that has worked to my advantage as now I can track him down." _

_Nina nodded and smirked. _

"_Well then, sounds like everything is going according to plan after all." _

That conversation went on for an hour or two, with Nina also including her encounter with Edgar Grant earlier. Eventually, Eddy came in to inform Nina that she didn't have to worry about Steve as the Brazilian walked away from the fight due to the sudden appearance of Christie. At least now she knew that her opponent was too pre-occupied trying to find Eddy rather than a tournament, she was almost glad that Christie didn't even show up as it was obvious that her mind wasn't into fighting.

So two hours ago their conversation wore thin and Jin thought that to save Nina the trouble of walking down the corridor in the middle of the night that she would sleep in his room for the night. Both of them weren't bothered to even crawl underneath the sheets and just collapsed on the bed and sleep came to the both them quickly. Both were deeply dreaming…

_Jin's Dream…_

"_Give into me…" _

_Jin was standing in a daze, swaying side to side as he struggled to keep control over his mind. Where was that voice coming from? It seemed to be everywhere and he couldn't block it out…the Devil Gene was beginning to stir. _

"_Give into the anger…"_

_It was the voice of Kazuya, provoking him and making him hate. Jin didn't know much longer he was going to last. The voice continued to fill inside his head, and it grew faster and faster until it was chanting the words…_

"_Give into me…Give into the anger…" _

_Jin latched onto his temples and collapsed onto his knees. Alone in that realm in his and black pants with the red flame on the leg, with the voice of his father chanting words of hatred. He couldn't take anymore of this._

'_What is this?' he thought desperately. 'Why won't this stop?'_

_His head felt like it was about to explode. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. When would this end? How much more could he take? The chanting stopped after a while before another voice came into the picture. _

"_Heir of the cursed blood," Azazel spoke in Jin's head. "Soon I will be resurrected as I feel my own blood stir. I can sense your presence and soon I will take back what's mine…" _

_A white flash occurred and Jin was no longer in that realm, instead he could recognise where he was. Golden statues were placed around the outer walls as flame torches illuminated the room. Looking up the wall, Jin noticed the broken chains on the wall and then it all came back to him...Turning around, he saw the unconscious body of Kazuya on the ground and then looked further along at the figure of Heihachi Mishima, and Jin knew that he was looking at himself about to kill his grandfather. Black wings spouted from his back and as this happened, Jin began to feel the wings growing out himself, the markings were starting to appear on his body. _

'_What is this?'_

"_Give into it," his Devil form spoke back at him. "You know there's no escape!" _

_Jin gripped the sides of his head and screamed._

"_No!" _

Brown eyes snapped wide open, forehead covered in cold sweat as his breathing hitched in shock from the nightmare. Eyes widened, Jin scanned around, trying to get to grips with reality after feeling the influence of the devil within growing stronger and stronger. It wasn't the first time that this had happened, ever since Azazel started talking to him in his dreams the nightmares became more frequent as if it was antagonising his blood.

'Dammit, I don't think I'll be able to sleep now,' he thought and looked down at Nina, who was wrapped up in his arms and still sleeping soundly. This made Jin smile. 'I guess she's a heavy sleeper.'

Removing his arms and gently rolled the blonde off him, Jin sat up on the bed and looked over at the clock. It was past midnight, so he doubted that anybody except for maybe Eddy would be awake at that hour. Without another thought, he got up and headed towards the exit and entered the corridor. Looking up ahead, Jin made his way towards his office, perhaps he could check that tracking device he had implanted in that android.

But seems like somebody had beaten him to it as Eddy walked out of his office and Jin stopped as Eddy hurried towards him.

"Jin, I was just on my way to get you," Eddy said. "We have received their location down at the shipping docks at the wharf."

Jin crossed his arms. He wasn't planning a confrontation with Lars yet, but this could be opportunity to catch a glimpse of him.

"I'm going down there," the raven-haired man replied. "In the meanwhile, I want you to head to Millennium Tower and retrieve a camera that I had set up to keep an eye on the enemy."

Eddy nodded.

"Yes, boss."

The darked skinned man watched as Jin headed back down the corridor.

* * *

_Location: Outside Millennium Tower_

_Time: 0157hrs_

A convoy of vehicles stopped outside the building as the entourage walked down the stairs. Kazuya was on his cell phone, conversing with one of his commanders who had informed him of an unsuccessful campaign in taking over a military base under the control of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Furious over the failure, Kazuya made the quick decision of going over to the survivors himself and deal with the situation with Anna and Edgar, leaving Bruce to look after things.

Finishing up the call, Kazuya pocketed the phone.

"Damn fools," he muttered. "Weak and pathetic."

"Perhaps they could clean up their act once they see you," Anna said.

Kazuya scoffed.

"I trust that you could that for me, Anna," he replied and looked at Edgar from the corner of his eye. "And you too, maybe you can sort this mess out."

Edgar smirked a little.

"Leave it to me, failure is not an option."

The entourage reached the vehicles and the soldiers climbed into the vans while the trio went straight for the black car in the middle. Anna got in first and Kazuya was about to get in, but stopped midway.

"Glad to hear it," he said to the other man. "Just don't let me down."

He got in along with Edgar and as soon as the door closed, the convoy sped off. Meanwhile in the bushes nearby, Eddy watched on. He had been in there the entire time after removing the camera, but after he done that he had to hide as Kazuya and his group came out. At least he was there to witness what he just saw. Now G-Corporation was vulnerable without their leader there.

Grabbing his phone, Eddy dialled Nina's number.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Quarters_

The ringing of the phone woke her up from the deep sleep that she was in. Groaning, Nina opened her eyes and felt her hand on the softness of the mattress.

"Huh? Where is he?" Nina asked herself as the phone continued to ring. It soon became clear to the assassin that Jin had left while she was asleep. Reaching out to her phone that was lying on the bedside table, she noticed that the call was coming from Eddy. "Hello, what is it?"

"_Nina, you might want to find Jin," _Eddy answered. _"Kazuya just left headquarters and appears to be heading out for a day or two by the sounds of it. This could be a great opportunity." _

Nina sat up on the edge of the bed and sighed.

"Well I would if I could, but I have no idea where he went."

"_Go down to the shipping docks, I think he wanted to see if Lars was down there._

"Shipping docks? Why would Lars be down there?"

"_Don't ask me, I just saw the tracking device on the android blinking," _Eddy explained. _"I'm almost on my way back, so I'll look at the footage that the android is recording and see what his next actions are."_

"Ok, I'll go find Jin and bring him back," Nina said and terminated the call.

Picking up her boots and jacket, Nina headed out of the room and met a guard who was wandering around.

"Inform the men down at the parking garage to have my bike ready as I'm heading down there now," she ordered.

The guard saluted.

"Yes ma'am."

He grabbed a radio and passed on Nina's orders as she made her way down to the elevators.

* * *

_Location: Shipping Docks_

_Time: 0216hrs_

He leaned up against his motorbike and closed his eyes as he heard the vehicle at the end of the dock going away from him. Jin was down there and saw Lars, fighting with a young blonde girl before the arrival of his rebel army. This was what Jin was hoping for to happen, now he felt like all the cards were in his hands as he could now rely on the one thing that kept him up-to-date with the entire situation. Now, he could keep a closer eye on his former commander.

From by just being down there, Jin was able to learn new information as he overheard the conversations that took place. Lars lost his memory from the explosion that occurred at the research facility and was knocked into the cold-sleep chamber of Alisa, the android that Jin had created for his own use. But for now, she had an unexpected new objective as being Jin's new set of eyes.

Slowly, he opened his eyes at the sound of an approaching motorcycle, stopping behind him. Jin didn't have to turn his head to know who it was as he could already sense her presence.

"There you are," Nina's voice came from behind. Switching off the engine, the blonde got off the bike and walked up beside him. "You sure you want to let them go?"

Placing her hands on her hips, Nina looked ahead at the water. They stood in silence for a moment, the assassin didn't know what Jin's motives were but she could trust that he had full control of the situation and that Lars wasn't going to become a threat.

"No need to worry," Jin replied. "I've taken care of it."

Nina sighed softly and crossed her arms.

"All right then," she said and unfolded her arms as she remembered exactly why she was down there. "You need to come back. Kazuya will be back at headquarters in a few days..." She turned around and looked at him over her shoulder before muttering. "…With that minx."

Nina walked over and climbed onto her bike while Jin stood there for a moment. So his father was going to be out of town for a while, maybe this was going to be a good opportunity to attack and steal some information as Jin recently heard of G-Corporation's latest development in their own investigation on Azazel. Perhaps this will further enhance his conquest.

Climbing onto the motorbike, Jin switched on the engine before pilling out a pair of black sunglasses and putting them on. The two of them sat there for a moment, taking in the view and the only sound present was coming from their bikes.

"Everything is in motion," Jin said. "Now we wait."

"For them you mean," Nina added and Jin leaned forward to grip the handlebars as Nina did likewise. "This should be fun."

Taking off at a great speed, the duo rode down the dock together and out of sight.

* * *

_[Where am I?]_

_The machine started up, working as it began to lift the cylinder that it was attached to. Soon enough, the glass tube emerged from the ice cold water and then stopped as soon as the top half was seen. _

_[What's going on? Why can't I open my eyes?]_

_Tipping up to a vertical position, the top half of the tube slid down and revealed the woman that was imprisoned in there for the past twenty years, naked and her wet blonde hair stuck to the cold skin of her cheek. _

_[Why am I so cold? Who am I…? What's happening to me?]_

_Blue eyes snapped open and a breath was drawn in as the woman was able to breathe for the first time in a long time. She didn't know where she was and why she was bare, but there was one thing for certain…Nina Williams was awake for the first time in twenty long years…_

_Present Day_

_March 5__th__ 2008_

_Time: 0746hrs_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Quarters_

Nina bolted upright from her dream, sweat beaded down her cold skin which made it even worse as it had reminded her of when she first felt that cool sting when was lowered into that tube. Eventually, her breathing slowed when her eyes caught the gaze of Jin, who seemed to have been watching her this entire time. Cursing under her breath, she broke eye contact and looked away from him.

"Another nightmare?" he asked her, gently.

The assassin nodded and closed her eyes.

"Nothing new, just memories of the cold sleep coming back to haunt me," she replied, fear still evident in her voice. "That was the only time that I felt trapped and I don't want to feel that way again."

Sighing, Jin reached out and caressed the bare skin of her back, feeling the battle scars that she had acquired from her campaigns. Even the most hardened assassins wore their scars on the outside, just as they did on the inside. It seemed to be a hard life and all Jin had to do to figure that out was to look at the back of one and to feel each and every one under the pad of his thumb.

"Obviously you've had some near misses," he told her, continuing to run his hand over her spine. "Care to tell me about them?"

Nina smiled a little and looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What is there to tell?" she replied rhetorically. "The authorities on occasion would spot me after a job and do what it took to bring me down. Plus the knife wounds would be from Anna during our usual battles."

Smirking, Jin placed small kisses up her spine until he met a scar on her shoulder from where Anna had shot her during the assassination attempt on the freeway. Nina shivered a little and grabbed his hands which were rested on her waist.

"Hmm…I think I could get used to a morning like this…"

Wrapping his arms around her, Jin laid back down and brought Nina down with him. Sighing into the back of her head, he started to think about Azazel, his father…everything, everything that he was going to miss if he succeeds in his deed. Against Azazel, Jin figured that he needed to be in full control of his Devil counterpart to combat any assault from this entity…His father, they're nearing a possible final confrontation that could kill either one of them. Putting those two thoughts aside, he looked at the things he was going to miss…the chance of having a family of his own because he wanted to end the cursed bloodline, the chance to be free...

He looked down at Nina and sighed.

…The chance to love and to be with this woman.

"Nina, can I ask you something?"

"Full of questions this morning, aren't you?"

Jin shook his head.

"Are you with me like this because you feel obliged?" he asked and she turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean like because of your job, do you have to feel closer to me an…"

She shook her head and closed his mouth with hers. Pulling back she smirked after silencing her boss.

"No, I'm not doing this because you're my boss," she replied. "I'm doing this because I love you."

This made Jin smile, to have a loyal woman like her was a like a gift sent from the heavens. At least his uneasiness was laid to rest.

"I love you too."

No more questions asked, Nina turned back the other way and settled herself back into Jin's strong arms. Unfortunately that wasn't going to last long as her cell phone rang. Sighing, she pulled out of Jin's grasp and grabbed it, it was Eddy. It was bad enough that he had to call her in the early hours of the morning, but only after getting about three hours sleep was pushing it.

"What is it now?"

"_You and Jin better get to his office right now," _Eddy replied. _"The two of you better look at this" _

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Nina closed her eyes.

"Alright, give me five minutes."

Terminating the call, Nina sat up and started to search for her clothes. Jin too followed suit as he picked up the scattered items on the ground nearby.

"What was all that about?" he asked.

Nina shrugged her shoulders as she stood up to pull up her pants and did the belt up.

"He wouldn't say exactly, but I'm guessing it's important enough to get us out of bed," she replied and glanced over her shoulder. "Disappointed for not being able to stay in bed all morning?"

Jin scoffed.

"Not that, but an extra couple of hours of sleep would have been nice."

"Then we should have been sleeping, but obviously we engaged in other 'activities.'"

They finished getting dressed and headed out.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 0813hrs_

The audio recording stopped and Jin sat back in his chair. He had listened to the recording several times already, listening to Lars discussing his next step and now Jin could plan his. Looking at Nina and Eddy, who were standing at the front of the desk he smiled.

"So that old bastard survived," Jin stated. "Thought he would have went up with that temple."

"Well Heihachi is no ordinary man," Nina explained clearly. "He did survive been thrown down a ravine by your father and obviously it must run in the family of your father managed to live after been tossed into a volcano."

"But the Devil saved him," Jin added and looked at the computer screen. "Lars isn't up there yet, I want you to go up to Heihachi's Estate and find out as much as you can. It could be possible that my grandfather could be plotting a scheme to overthrow me."

Nina nodded.

"I'll head off as soon as I can," she replied.

Jin reached forward and grabbed a piece of paper that was on his desk and handed it to Eddy.

"I want you to put this in the hotel to inform the fighters of the second round match-ups," he ordered. "I want the round to happen in two days time."

Eddy nodded and made his leave, leaving the couple alone.

"I think I better go and prepare," Nina mentioned. "It takes a while to get up those mountains."

"Be careful, Heihachi can be unpredictable."

Nina allowed herself a small chuckle.

"Please, he wouldn't be able to see me, so I should be fine."

With that, she left and Jin was left there with a small smile on his face, grinning due to the assassin's confidence.

* * *

_Location: Mishima Estate_

_Time: 1037hrs_

The sound of every kick and punch could be clearly heard as feet moved across the loose stone tiles, the bare skin of his torso gleaming in the morning sunlight. Stomping his foot onto the ground, Heihachi Mishima felt the aura flow through his body. Performing his kata cleansed his mind, except for his near-death experience. Yes, he still remembered the event well. For a moment Heihachi thought that Kazuya was fighting alongside him, but soon realised he was only fighting just to get himself out. If that coward stayed for a moment longer, than eventually those cyborgs would have been eradicated.

'Curse you Kazuya,' he thought angrily. 'Because of you I've lost everything, again.'

When he emerged from his crash site, after flown several miles from the explosion, Heihachi had learned that the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 had came and gone. Infuriated by the news that Jin Kazama had taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu, Heihachi returned to his Estate in the mountains and everyday trained to hone his body and spirit so that he could plot the perfect revenge and take back what was his.

Slowly looking up, he felt the presence of another person. A guard stood there, clad in a black suit and watched his boss.

"What is it?" Heihachi asked.

"There is an urgent matter," the guard replied.

Heihachi continued his kata in a slow movement.

"Talk."

The guard bowed.

"The rebel army in question that raided Dr. Bosconovitch's laboratory," he explained.

Heihachi ceased all movement and looked at the man.

"What?"

"But while they were there…" the guard continued. "…the G-Corporation engaged and annihilated them."

"If Kazuya went through all that trouble…" Heihachi said straightaway and continued his kata. "…then that guarantees that something was down there. Well, we'll know soon enough."

He spun around and stomped on the ground, feeling the aura pulse through his body even more before asking.

"What have you found out about the rebels?"

The guard nodded.

"Well sir, the unit consists of 30,000 men," he replied. "Led by the instigator Lars Alexandersson. His personal and service records have been wiped not just at the company, but also from our database here." Heihachi slowly turned his head. "It appears he was assigned to the lab raid, but no body was found."

"Flies that buzz that loudly aren't so easy to swat," Heihachi explained. "He's sure to be alive. If I can win him over to my side…maybe then I can wipe the smirk off that damned whelp Jin's face."

He allowed himself a small smile.

"Yes, I must bring this Lars under my control, no matter what it takes." He motioned at the guard. "Go after them! If he even stops to piss, I want to know about it! Get moving!"

The guard bowed.

"Yes sir!"

He turned around and made back down the path. Heihachi stood in the middle of the square area and started laughing, louder and louder. Perhaps with this new development that he now could finally have the firepower to bring Jin down. But he still had to convince Lars first.

From a nearby tree, Nina balanced herself on a branch. She spied in and witnessed the entire conversation, now all she had to do was to get back to Jin and inform him.

'So you're alive after all,' she thought. 'You're one hard bastard to kill.'

Jumping down from the tree, she made her exit and causing Heihachi to stop laughing and turn around.

"Who's there?" He asked into air as he saw the branch of a nearby tree shake. Heihachi smiled a little after realising who it could have been.

'Jin probably sent one of his lot to check up on me,' he thought and crossed his arms. 'It's probably that damned assassin that he hired.'

Meanwhile at the bottom of the mountain, Nina sat on her motorbike and watched as an SUV drove past her. Picking up her phone, she held to her ear.

"Jin, I just found out that Heihachi wants to team with Lars," she said. "And Lars just drove past me."

"_I guess we better work quickly then," _Jin replied. _"Ok, come back to headquarters and we'll discuss what to do next."_

"Yes boss," Nina replied and put her phone down.

Turning on the bike, she turned around and headed down the road quickly.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter completed. I'll probably end up adding another S.C cutscene in the next chapter, even though from what I've seen on youtube occurred before this last one. However, this is my fic and I want to make the story my own with a few cutscenes included just to tie up the loose ends. Ok, so until next chapter :)


	12. Awakening

A/N: Ok, I have decided not to add that missing scene in yet, but I will include it in later chapters as it'll fit more better into the story. Besides, I wanted this chapter to mostly focus on the following fight scene and Jin's struggle to control the Devil Gene. Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it and I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Awakening**

_March 7__th__ 2008_

_Location: City Centre_

_Time: 2103hrs_

"Hey," a young brunette woman pointed at the blonde woman in the tight purple cat-suit that was walking towards her. "You're the woman that was with Jin Kazama in that announcement for the tournament."

Nina looked at Asuka Kazama with a bored look on her face.

"You're my opponent? It's quite the coincidence, isn't it?"

Asuka gazed at the assassin, confused.

"What do you mean?"

Nina chuckled a little and crossed her arms. This girl was clueless, she thought because she was about to fight her boss' cousin, who was well-renowned for putting her nose into business where it wasn't needed, being thrown out on numerous occasions from the Mishima Zaibatsu. This could be the opportunity for Nina to stop anymore rebellions to happen.

"You're Jin Kazama's cousin, correct?"

"How could you possibly know that?" The Japanese girl asked, wide eyed.

The blonde remembered back to watching her opponent a year ago at the last tournament when Asuka fought Anna, in which Anna won and went on to the next round to fight her sister and lost. While watching this fight, Nina remembered back into her past and could recall seeing the fighting style that Jun Kazama used over twenty years ago. But that alone wasn't what made Nina to assume that Jun and Asuka were related. Close up, she could tell that the two women shared similar facial features, eye structure.

One night ago, Nina snuck out of Jin's room and went to his office to gain access to the main computer system. She wanted to find out once and for all the connection that she had sensed between the two women…

_The Day Before…_

_Typing away quickly on the keyboard, Nina watched on as the computer searched for the file that she was looking for. Not that she was meant to be on Jin's computer without his permission, but his was the only one that she knew of that had access to absolutely every single file in the entire building. _

_After a short while, the computer beeped to confirm that it had finished its search. Gazing down the list, she found three names with the surname 'Kazama.' Jin and his mother and then looking down at the last name, Nina found what she was looking for. A small smile formed on her lips as opened the file, the answer to her question was right in front of her. _

"Well I do work for Jin and all I need to know is that you're not going to stop him from achieving his goals," Nina warned. "So if you don't want to get hurt, I'd suggest that you leave before the official gets here."

The brunette shook her head and narrowed her eyes. It was obvious that Asuka wasn't one to give up too easily.

"No, I must stop him. He's inflicting destruction onto this world, this war is pointless."

Nina was about to say something in regards to the truth of Jin starting this world war, but then remembered that it was only to be kept between the two of them.

'He would hate me for hurting her,' Nina thought. 'But if it's the only way to eliminate a threat, then I must do my job.'

Sighing, Nina got into her fighting stance.

"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but regardless of the fact that you're his cousin," she explained carefully. "You pose a threat and must be dealt with. You should have said goodbye to your school friends while you had the chance."

Asuka looked down at herself, guessing that Nina noticed the young woman was still in her school uniform. Growling a little, she too got into her fighting stance and a large crowd circled around the pair.

"You don't threaten me. Why should I feel scared about a woman that enjoys pleasure of killing others?"

Almost like Asuka hit a nerve, Nina gave her a hard glare. No one in their life, including Anna, has ever talked to her like that before. Sure, she was an assassin and it was the only job that she ever had prior to becoming Jin's bodyguard, but taking the lives of others did she enjoy it…of course not, who would. But it was her job, it was money in the pocket to keep a roof over her head and food on the table. Of all her targets, there was one that Nina had failed to pull the trigger all because she felt that not only she would have the blood of others staining her hands, but also the blood of her son. No matter how much of a cold-hearted assassin that she grew to be, there was always going to be people that she wouldn't be prepared to hurt.

No longer waiting anymore, the two females charged at one another. Launching off one foot, Nina dove at the brunette, driving the two of them back and Asuka ended up on her back. The assassin was about to adjust her position to grip the girl's legs into a leglock, but Asuka brought her legs quickly up to her chest and kicked out, her feet pounded squarely onto the blonde's back and Nina as a result flew forward, landing on her chest. Groaning heavily, Nina looked over her shoulder and rolled to the side just as her opponent brought her foot down. Quickly getting up, Nina got back into fighting stance kicked up at Asuka's head, her foot sliding across her cheek. Swinging around again to bring another kick up, she wasn't expecting to be met with Asuka's foot connecting with the side of her face. The two of them crumpled to the ground, their faces in pain after foot met skull and glared at one another. Nina couldn't help but smirk as she climbed back onto her feet, she remembered her battle with Anna all those years ago…

_The ship was exploding around the two sisters that were battling it out. The two of them had been going for quite sometime and it was starting to take its toll. So far they had been matched in everything, legs connecting as they met halfway through a kick and hand strikes being executed simultaneously as well as blocking. _

_Eventually, both Anna and Nina brought their hands around to strike each other in the face unexpectedly. Neither one of them were prepared or had enough time in their weary minds to process what was to happen next. The hands made contact with their targets in a loud slap and both women slouched over, holding their cheeks as they reeled from the contact. Looking up, Nina watched as her younger sister got back into fighting mode and she too did the same._

The crowd roared as the intensity increased between the two fighters. Exchanging kicks and punches, meeting one another blow by blow as the battle went on and it became evident after a while that they were both weary. Nina had hoped that this fight would be over and done with quickly, but she also had to keep in mind that who she was fighting was a Kazama, and like her relatives she wasn't going to give up easily.

'Fuck, she's a stubborn one,' Nina thought as she continued to block her opponent's assault. 'She's managed to get me onto the back foot and if I don't do anything soon then I'm finished.'

Deciding to try and put an end to this quickly, Nina's quick reflexes allowed her to grab the younger female's right arm and twist it behind her and then swept her legs out from underneath. Rolling onto her back and positioning the trapped arm between her legs, Nina gripped the arm even tighter and then jerked it back towards her and a loud snap could be heard. There was a loud, bloodcurdling scream as Asuka cried out in agony from her newly broken arm, but not one to simply give up, she gripped her arm and ignoring the tears forming in her eyes, she got up but remained slouched over.

Seizing the opportunity, Nina decided to finish the fight once and for all. There wasn't anything that Asuka could have done to prevent this as Nina performed her Blonde Bomb technique and sent her opponent flying through the air for a couple of metres, feeling the ribs break underneath her gloved hands. The girl landed heavily on the ground and tried sitting up, the pain in her arm and ribs shot throughout the rest of her body and she laid back down on the ground. The official walked over and officially declared Nina the winner of the fight.

Walking over with a satisfied look on her face, Nina knelt down beside her victim.

"I told you, no one gets to Jin Kazama unless they can get through me first," she said coldly. "Now tell me, who is the leader of your resistance group?"

The girl shook with fear as the cold hard glare of the assassin penetrated her, as if she could see the fear in her. At first, Asuka thought that the likes of Nina Williams, a woman who could make the toughest men cry, couldn't get to her. But now, Asuka was shaken down to the bone.

Too scared to speak, Asuka shook her head. Feeling like she had finally lost her patience, Nina raised her fist and was about to strike, but she felt a hand grab her arm. Being hoisted up onto her feet, she was met with the eyes of a copper-haired man. He looked at her hard and pushed the assassin backwards, almost sending her to the ground. Glaring up at him, Nina could easily recognise him. Dressed in a white taekwondo uniform, Hwoarang stood protectively in front of Asuka.

"The answer to your question is right in front of you," he informed her evenly. "Because of that little stunt that you and Kazama pulled in that bar, I can't fight underground anymore."

"So you're the one that formed that group with those other fighters?" Nina asked and placed her hands on her hips. "Who else is in this group? Any of the other King of Iron Fist fighters?"

"Why the fuck should I tell you?" He came back quickly. "I formed this group to bring that bastard down once and for all, along with that damned family of his as they've been nothing but trouble."

Chuckling, Nina turned around and looked over her shoulder.

"I'd watch your back from now on if I were you. Just remember who I am because my face will be last that you'll ever see."

Quickly, she pushed her way through the crowd and got into the car with the waiting official. Kneeling on the ground, Hwoarang watched the mangled mess of his comrade and wiped the single tear that fell down her face with his thumb. Sighing, he looked up at the billboard with Jin Kazama's face on it and cursed.

"Damn you Kazama."

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 2246hrs_

Turning on the shower and stripping off her clothes, Nina stepped into the hot spray and turned around to allow the stinging needles knead her aching shoulders. In a matter of fact, she hadn't felt sore like that after a fight for a long time. Her face still stung from where Asuka had kicked her and felt numerous bruises forming on various parts of her body. Sighing deeply, Nina closed her eyes and rolled her head back and allowed her body to relax itself.

She only just got back just moments ago and instead of reporting straight to Jin, Nina decided that she would clean up and then rest so she could report to him in the morning. Knowing that he would have cameras installed at the fight, Nina knew that he would have switched the channel before Nina found out about the resistance group. Jin would get a small laugh out it, Hwoarang didn't seem to be the sort of person that had the capacity of forming a group of this magnitude. But there was something in his eyes from what Nina could tell that he was serious about the whole war thing, again it had taken away a livelihood of a group of individuals. Hell, it certainly taken away Nina's way of blowing off some steam, but she wasn't as affected by it compared to if she didn't take up Jin's offer.

Snapping her eyes open upon hearing a noise, Nina looked toward the door knowing that the noise came from outside. Turning off the water, she got out of the shower and grabbed the towel off the rack and wrapped it around herself. Unsure of what she could be facing, she reached underneath the handtowel on the edge of the sink and pulled out a handgun before leaving the bathroom. Slowly walking out with a firm grip on the gun, Nina's uneasiness soon came to a rest as she noticed a familiar black jacket on a chair outside her bedroom. Smirking a little, she headed into her room.

Upon walking in, she saw Jin lying on his back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't hear her enter, or approaching him. Carefully setting the gun on the bedside table, Nina saw that he had his eyes closed, he was sleeping. Grinning a little, she crawled onto the bed and sat with her legs at her side, watching him closely. Nina could notice by the expression on the young man's face that he was dreaming decided not to disturb him.

About to get up, the assassin gave him one last glance before noticing that his facial features became more harder, as if he was scared and then it hit her, Jin was having a nightmare. Looking more closely, she could see some markings appearing on his chest through the opening of his shirt and then seeing more markings on his forehead…

'His Devil side?'

She had to get him awake and fast before the influence from his other half grew stronger. Grabbing his shoulders, Nina shook him violently, almost panicking and called to him.

"Jin! Wake up!"

Almost as if he heard her voice, Jin awoke and jolted up, lunging almost and sent the two of them onto the ground together. Nina tried getting up, but it was no use as Jin had his entire weight on top of her, his hand squeezed her wrists in an iron grip and his eyes were crystal-white. Jin could feel the wings starting to spurt from his back as his shirt ripped off him. Nina never felt more scared in her life as she knew that Jin could kill her without hesitation if she couldn't reason with him.

"Please Jin…no more…you have to come back…"

He stopped squeezing and looked at her for a moment, staring into the scared eyes of the usually composed woman beneath him. Nina sniffled back a tear and let out a deep breath before saying to him softly, almost in a whisper.

"Please Jin…I love you…Come back to me."

Bowing his head, the wings disappeared into his back and the rage began to subdue. Nina felt his grip and Jin rested his hands on either side of her body before looking her in the eyes. The blonde saw that his eyes returned to the brown that they normally were and the markings that were on his forehead and chest were gone. Jin looked at position that they were in, him wedged between her legs, her wrists were starting to bruise and blue eyes hinted fear. He would have lost complete control if it weren't for her words.

What was going on?

"Nina…" he said, shaking. "…I'm sorry…"

Collapsing onto her chest, he sighed and Nina closed her eyes, reaching around to caress his shoulders. She knew that he didn't intentionally mean for it to happen, but somehow she had a calming influence on him to bring him back to reality. But it was worse than the last time, next time he could end up having a complete transformation and what then? Would her voice be enough to bring him back, or end up getting her killed?

No, Nina wasn't going to quit on him now. She made a promise to him, and to herself to stay by Jin until the very end and she sure as hell wasn't going to allow him to convince her to give up either. Even if it means the end of her.

"Jin, I'm going to stay by you until the very end," she told him, almost in a whisper. "I'm not going to leave you."

Lifting his head, Jin met her soft gaze. He could tell that he had shaken her a fair bit, but not enough to drive her away and this was what scared him. What if the next time he loses control that he might end up killing her? What her words couldn't get to him?

Well then, obviously he didn't know that Nina Williams wasn't a woman to persuade easily.

"Nina," he said again softly as he grabbed one of her injured wrists and examined it, caressing it at the same time. "I did this to you, didn't I?"

Giving him a weak nod was enough to make Jin feel even more guilty than he did at that point. He cared for her and for that Jin was afraid to hurt her even more.

"You don't have to stay."

Nina gave him a small grin and grabbed around his torso, placing her hands on his muscular shoulders while gazing deeply into his sorrowful eyes. Without hesitation, she reached up and claimed his lips, softly, for a brief moment before parting and hovered millimetres from his.

"I'm fine…I'm not afraid of the Devil," she whispered, eyes darkened with desire. "You shouldn't scared of it either, you should be controlling it and use its power."

Claiming his lips again, this time with more fire and passion, Nina rolled him onto his back and straddled his hips while Jin slowly slid his hands down her sides and rested onto the exposed skin of her thighs.

Despite the comforting presence of the assassin, Jin could still feel the grasp of the Devil within tighten as its influence began to grow even stronger.

Jin had to learn to control it before someone else got hurt.

* * *

_Three Years Ago…_

_The whole room was lit up bright, despite the darkness outside and in there Nina Williams had found her target. Dressed in nothing but his black and red flame pants, Jin Kazama had his arms crossed and watched the ground. If he won this match, he would be one step closer to avenging his mother, but if Nina won then it would mean the end of his life. Not that Nina was voluntary doing it because she wanted to, but it seemed that Ogre was controlling her like a puppet, she had no control of her mind at all. _

_Unconsciously, she wanted Jin to defeat her to free her mind, but that thought could never come into consciousness as Ogre's influence was too great. Stopping a few metres nearby, she watched as the raven-haired young man met her gaze. Despite not having control of herself, Nina somehow felt something else grow within her and slowly she began to feel her master's grip loosen slightly. But there was still a deed to be done. Getting into her fighting stance, she shook her head. _

"_Time to die, Jin Kazama," Nina said, her voice sounded warped and didn't hold her usual tone._

_This clicked something in Jin's mind. Something was strange about the whole situation, the blonde woman in front of him was evidently not herself and her voice almost resembled the strange voice in his head…_

'_Ogre?' _

_He wanted to get Ogre out of Nina, but there was only one way to do that. Getting into fighting stance, Jin suddenly felt something grow within him, growing stronger and stronger by each passing moment…What was going on?_

_In an instant, Nina rushed towards her target. Jin thought that she was going to strike, but then reached around to her back and revealed a handgun. At that moment, Jin never had felt more scared and the growing influence that he felt inside of him grew even bigger and then once the assassin pulled the trigger, Jin closed his eyes. _

_After a short moment of silence, Jin opened his eyes and saw Nina in front of him, her eyes were wide and jaw was dropped. Realising what she was shocked about, Jin looked down at his hands and saw a strange purple mist hovering around him. Looking back up, his expression could easily match Nina's._

"_Who are you?" she asked and fired another shot. Again, the bullet was aimed at his chest and reflected off him and nearly hit Nina. With no control, he lunged for her and punched the woman square on the jaw. _

_Shaking, Jin gasped and looked behind him to the woman sprawled on the cold hard floor. Nina was lying face down and out cold and he walked over to only kneel beside his would-be murderer. Rolling her over onto her back, Jin watched as a small bruise formed on her jaw and reached out to caress it with his thumb and bowed his head. He had done the one thing that his mother told him to never do, but somehow for some unknown reason there was something within him that made him do it without any control over his body. What was happening to him?_

"_I'm sorry," he said to the unconscious woman and looked up down the chamber nearby. "I will free you from Ogre's influence and I know you'll forgive me."_

_Placing a small kiss on her forehead, Jin got up and ran down the corridor. _

* * *

_Present Day…_

_March 8__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 0912hrs_

Groaning, Nina opened her eyes and yawned. Never in her life she had felt as sore as she did at that moment. Perhaps it was when she realised that she slept on the floor and not on her bed was one factor, but also the tenderness on her face from her fight and the bruising on her wrists from when Jin, halfway to a complete transformation, gripped them…

'Jin?'

Looking down, Nina realised that the towel that she had draped around her the night before now was draped over her and the person beside her, she just remembered that Jin and her made love after she brought him back. And they remained on the floor ever since. Moving her eyes up the figure beside her, she noticed that Jin was also awake, gazing up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"Jin, are you ok?"

He didn't look at her, hell how in the world could he especially after when he was close to killing her? Never in his right mind would Jin even consider harming this woman in anyway and that's what he was dreaming about all night, that night when he freed her from Ogre and the Devil's influence strengthened within him.

"Do you remember Ogre?"

Nina sighed and painfully rolled onto her back. She had vague memories of her experience under Ogre's influence. All she could remember was Ogre telling her to kill Jin, defeating her opponents before the battle in the temple and then darkness after Jin's fist connected to her head. Afterwards, she could only recall waking up in the forest outside the temple, with the control over her own mind and body returned to her.

"I try not to think about it too much," she replied, her voice not carrying its usual hardness. "But sometimes I can still hear him in my dreams when I think back to that moment in the temple." She turned her head and smiled at him. "Oh and thanks for saving me by the way, I didn't know how much more I could take."

Sighing, Jin rolled onto his side and looked down at the deep purple marks that had formed on her wrists and grabbed one of them.

"I can't believe I did it again," he said and caressed the area, making Nina wince a little from the pain. "I think you're crazy for staying by me after last night."

Smirking, Nina pulled her arm away and stood up, grabbing the towel and wrapped it around her body as Jin started to grab his clothes and pulling them on. Once he was dressed, Jin stood up and looked at her, sitting on the edge of the bed with her cell phone in her hand. Nina noticed him looking and gazed over.

"Eddy just sent a message, he wants us in your office right away," she explained and got up. "I'll go and get changed, then we'll go over."

She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a red jacket and a pair of white pants before retreating into the bathroom.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 0921hrs_

The Brazilian man hung up the phone as Jin and Nina entered the room and smiled as they approached him. Stopping on the opposite side of the desk, the couple were curious as to what he was smiling about as it was a rare sight in Eddy's case. Not once since Nina had been working for Jin has she seen one smile spread across his dark lips and Jin had rarely seen him smile either.

Placing a hand on her hip, Nina raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Good news I take it?"

Eddy nodded and crossed his arms.

"Better, we've just taken over three G-Corporation territories overnight, including the base in Mexico that they took from us originally," he explained. "Currently we're also winning the campaign over in Ireland with our troops trapping the enemy in Dublin."

Jin nodded and smiled in satisfaction.

"It seems to me that you have finally redeemed yourself," he praised. "Inform me when the battle is over and I'll personally go over and congratulate the troops."

"Not without me your not," Nina told him and the two men looked at her. "You wouldn't even know way around that place, and since I did come from there I think can guide you around."

Jin smirked at her and crossed his arms.

"A bodyguard's duty, eh?"

Nina nodded.

"I guess you can call it that to say the least," she replied. "I don't think my next fight will be happening until next week, so I have the free time. And speaking of the tournament…" She looked at Eddy. "Who else is through to the next round?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Eddy quickly typed something into the computer and his eyes gazed down the screen.

"Well, both Kazuya and your sister won their rounds," he replied. "Steve has gone through while Marshall Law has been knocked out. All of the newcomers have been eliminated and many others had pulled out due to injury."

"So, who's left?" Jin asked.

"Well…" Eddy continued to scan down. "There are only a handful of fighters left other than those one's I have mentioned…Craig Marduk, Ling Xiaoyu, Heihachi Mishima, Yoshimitsu, Baek Doo San, Nina and Hwoarang…"

"Hwoarang?" Nina said to herself and looked at Jin. "Jin, I almost forgot to mention this. Hwoarang is the leader of that rebellion group that formed after the collapse of the underground fighting leagues. I encountered him last night."

Jin didn't look worried. It never crossed his mind that the copper-haired Korean would have the capacity to form a group like that. Obviously it was because of something that Jin had no control over and like always Hwoarang would pick a fight with him.

"I'm worried about him," he replied. "I don't see him much as a threat anyway because they're only a small minority group." He looked to Eddy. "Get the draws organised for the next round. Make sure there's a good chance that anyone that poses a threat to me has a good chance of being eliminated."

Eddy nodded and sat down in the chair behind him. Jin looked at Nina and then down at her exposed wrists.

"Come on, we'll go down to the infirmary and get your injury looked at."

The couple left the office, leaving Eddy alone in there and headed for the elevator. Since the events of the night before, Jin knew that there was only a matter of time before he would face his father. The last time that they faced, the reason why Jin defeated Kazuya was because he was under the influence of the Devil Gene, but it was out of his control. This time, he will not lose control because Jin had a plan to learn how to control it.

* * *

A/N: The next few chapters will mainly be focused around the tournament, but the final match won't be for a while yet as there is still one matter to be dealt with first. But I'm not going to reveal that yet, so you're all going have to wait to find out. Until next chapter :)


	13. The Devil Within

A/N: Hello everyone :) The previous chapter started to show Jin's inner struggles with the Devil within, and this chapter will be a continuation of this and will show Nina's inner struggles as well and this is all that this chapter will be focusing on. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as it'll show the characters emotional struggles and please keep the reviews coming.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: The Devil Within**

_March 8__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Infirmary_

_Time: 1023hrs_

The woman in the white coat scanned her hazel eyes over the bruised area of skin, noticing how quickly the injury had turned quite dark over a 24-hour period. Sure, she was young and had seen many soldiers severely wounded, but this injury was caused beyond the simple gunshot wound to the shoulder that Nina was brought in with last time. Sighing, she stood up and looked at the blonde woman sitting on the bed, who was now holding her wrist as it continued to throb like a painful toothache. Not even the various gunshot and knife wounds that Nina had received as an assassin could compare to what she felt at that point.

"There's probably some cracking in the bone," the doctor told the assassin as she pulled off her gloves. "But at least there's nothing broken from what I can tell. But if the colour of the bruise doesn't start to disappear within the next week, then I want you to come back here and I'll take an x-ray."

Turning to the raven-haired man sitting in a chair nearby, she pulled out a small container of tiny capsules and threw over, in which Jin did catch. Looking down at the label he noticed that they were pain killers.

"She's gone to be in a lot of pain for the next week or two, it's advised that she doesn't do anything to make the injury worse," the doctor continued. "Make sure she takes those tablets to…"

"Uh hello, I'm still in the room you know?" Nina cut in, waving her hand. "And I'm sure I can live without pain medication thank you very much."

The doctor chuckled and gave Nina an amused look.

"Trust me you'll be crying out for them soon enough, I'm just giving them to Mr. Kazama to make sure that you are taking them." She looked back at Jin. "You were quite lucky that it isn't anymore serious, maybe the two of you should take sometime off to ease the stress levels."

She gave the couple one last look before exiting. Chuckling, Nina got up onto her feet and looked at Jin, who stood up as well.

"At least there's nothing to worry about," she said, sounding calm despite what the doctor just told her. "And I say fuck the drugs, it's only a bit of bruising that should disappear quickly."

Sighing, Jin shook his head and pocketed the tiny container of drugs and gave her a worried glare.

"Maybe we should take sometime off, forget about the tournament for a little while and get out of the country," he told her firmly. "I want to try and get this damned curse of mine under control before it hurts you again."

"You can never hurt me, Jin," she said to him and walked over. "Because if you do, then I will have to kill you." Jin didn't shift his gaze from her until she walked to the doorway. "I know where we can go for a little while, just make sure that you can fly my opponent out there."

She was just about to leave, but noticed that Jin was still standing there.

"So, are you coming or what?"

Snapping out of his daze, Jin followed his bodyguard out.

* * *

_March 12__th__ 2008_

_Location: Dublin Airport, Ireland_

_Time: 1010hrs_

Five days had passed since the incident that night, four days since the two of them decided to take a week away from Tokyo to get away from things. There was much discussion on where to go, but they had to pick somewhere in which there wasn't much of a threat to their lives. Jin had suggested on going back to Brisbane in Australia, but with half of the country under the control of G-Corporation, it was just too dangerous. So Nina instead suggested that they went to her homeland of Ireland, giving Jin the perfect opportunity to meet with the troops that he had dispatched there to liberate the country, and also to visit a particular grave that she hadn't visited for years.

The two of them walked through the terminal, with their luggage in hand. Jin left Eddy in charge of the Zaibatsu in his absence, making Nina feel a bit uneasy. But her boss had reassured her that he trusted Eddy enough not to make a foolish decision and inform him of any activity that may pose as a threat to his empire. Eventually, Nina had allowed her fears to be put to rest and with her match already scheduled for three days time, she should be placing her focus and attention into the match.

"So where are we staying?" Jin asked her.

Once they were outside, they stopped and looked at each other, in which Nina pulled out a set of keys that she had in the pocket of the long black coat that she was wearing.

"Don't you worry about that, I've got it all sorted out," she replied with a smile on her face. "I came from here and I know if I haven't got anywhere else to stay then I could always come back here."

Nodding, Jin opened the back door of the black car nearby, a Tekken Force soldier grabbing the luggage and put them into the boot while the couple got into the back seat. The soldier got in the front and the car took off down the road.

Half an hour later and out of the traffic of the CBD, the car reached a large house in the richest part of Dublin, surrounded by other red bricked houses and the snow on the ground. Nina had explained to Jin that the skies were usually clouded over for the majority of the year from what she could remember, on occasion it was clear and the temperature wasn't cold, but that day they were experiencing typical northern European weather.

The car went up the driveway and stopped in front of the three door garage. Getting out first, Nina looked around at the familiar sight and felt the strange feeling of belonging, until recently was missing, restored. Yes, she did feel like she had grown attached to Jin and the Mishima Zaibatsu in which was her home now, but this place in her heart was always going to be her home.

Walking up the path through the small garden, filled with various native plants, Nina quickly walked up the stairs and approached the large twin wooden doors. Pulling out the key, she inserted it into the lock and turned it, satisfied once she heard the click. Pushing the unlocked door inward, the assassin stepped inside her childhood home and looked around.

Everything was how she had remembered.

The wooden staircase was still near the door on the right while on the other side there was a large living area that could easily match the one at Jin's villa in the mountains. Walking up the long, wide hallway, Nina scanned her blue eyes along the wall and looked at the many family photos taken over the years and then stopped once she saw a picture that caught her attention the most. The picture was of Nina, of about age twelve, with her father and he had his hand on her shoulder with the look of pride on his face as the two of them held shotguns in their hands. Behind them was a log cabin surrounded by snow and a young girl dressed in red sat alone on the porch, watching the father and daughter. Nina smiled, she remembered that picture. It was taken during a family vacation to a holiday house in the Swiss Alps and that day Nina and her father went hunting, in which Anna wanted to go along on. But their father didn't want her to go with them and he and Nina went on while Anna watched on in jealousy as Richard Williams went off with his favourite daughter.

It was the last happy memory that Nina had of her father before that fateful in which his life was taken away and Nina was left to face the cruelty of the world alone, without her father to protect her anymore.

"The house was given to me, it was written in my mother's will after I learned of her passing," Nina said as she heard Jin's footsteps approach her. "But that happened a year or two after I left home. I came back here and the last time I stayed was just before the second tournament." She smiled weakly and turned to him. "I haven't been here for over twenty years. But my job came first and I had no money to get back here and I was stuck in Japan ever since, carrying out hit after hit and always forgetting to come back."

Wordlessly, Jin pulled her into his arms and held her close as he heard her sigh deeply. Like he, Nina hadn't really been home for a long time, she was probably homesick just as he was. Jin wanted to go back to the place of his childhood just to be close to the happy memories that he had of his mother. If she saw him now, then Jin could only bet that she wouldn't approve of what he's doing, despite him doing it for the good of the world.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "You're home now, we can stay for as long as you want."

* * *

_There he was, in that dark realm again and on his own, except for the voices in his head. Jin had his eyes closed as both Azazel and the Devil were taunting him, seducing him to give in to the evil presence that was within. But it was just by thinking of his mother that kept him from losing it. _

"_Everyday I grow stronger," Azazel spoke to him. "Soon, this world will be utterly consumed by the negative energy in which I feed upon, and I thank you for that."_

"_The day that I come to you will be your last," Jin replied. "And my cursed blood with it."_

_Azazel laughed loudly, echoing in Jin's head. _

"_Foolish mortal, your father still has his half of the curse. Do you really think that by defeating me…"_

"_Kazuya will be long dead by the time we meet," Jin cut in forcefully. "There's no way that I would be prepared to leave this world and let him live to only bring the world into despair." _

"_But think about it," Devil Jin said. "If we leave this world and he was to live, then the Devil will lose its other half forever…"_

_Jin shook his head. _

"_No, I must defeat my father and it will be soon that I will face him."_

"_Have it your way, just when the time comes you will require my assistance."_

_Jin opened his eyes and watched as his Devil form appeared before him. _

"_Use my power, join with me and together we will have the power to defeat both your father and Azazel. Control the entity and she will be spared, no more will she be hurt._

_Devil Jin offered his hand to his host, who then reluctantly grasped it, Jin wanted to do this if it meant that Nina would no longer be hurt by his curse, no more innocent lives will be taken at his hands. The two hands connected and a bright white flash appeared before them…_

* * *

_March 14__th__ 2008_

_Location: Williams Residence- Training Room_

_Time: 0624hrs_

Opening his eyes slowly, Jin focussed on the bag in front of him as he sat in front of it as he got out of his meditative state. He had done it, Jin had joined forces with the Devil and felt him become stronger in the process, not that he would have done it if it wasn't for the promise of that Nina would be safe from any harm that Devil Jin may cause, he didn't want to hurt her anymore.

Standing up, Jin took a deep breath, clenching his fists and closed his eyes. He was like that for only a brief moment before snapping his eyes open and threw his fist into the bag, splitting it wide open and making the contents of the bag spill out onto the floor like blood pouring out of an open wound. Jin had finally done it, he had let go of the one thing that kept him from becoming like his father and that was not to join forces with Devil. Now he had the power to put an end to it all.

"Forgive me mother," he whispered. "But it's the only way to allow myself to be free."

At that point, he didn't hear the footsteps coming down the steps and she stood there, watching on as Jin asked for his mother's forgiveness. Nina remembered Jun Kazama as a woman that saw the goodness in everyone, even if they were pure evil like Kazuya. She was a kind-hearted individual and the assassin could still briefly remember the last conversation they had.

_Twenty-Two Years Ago…_

_The blonde assassin sat at the bar, sipping her drink. She was thinking about the next day, the day that she was going to take out Kazuya, but there was something telling her in the back of her mind that something was going to happen, but she needed to this or otherwise she would be living off food stamps for a while. _

"_I sense that you're troubled."_

_The soft, angelic voice caught Nina's attention. Jun Kazama sat down in the seat beside her and watched the facial features of the blonde woman soften a little, but still remained hardened. _

"_Nothing's wrong, just have some things on my mind, that's all," Nina replied and looked at the white clad woman from head to toe. "Never thought I'd see the likes of you in here."_

_Jun shook her head. _

"_No, but I saw you from afar and noticed that you were alone."_

"_Hmph, maybe I needed a quiet drink to relax." _

"_I know what you are, Nina Williams," Jun told her. "Even though you kill for a living, never let that cloud the good spirit that's inside of you. Never forget to love even though the one that you loved the most is gone from the living world, he still wants you to live and to feel."_

_With that, the woman got up and left Nina to process what she just heard. Never had she heard such kind words in a long time and with that, it caused her to smile like she hadn't for a long time. _

_Present Day…_

"She'll still love you, regardless of the path that you have chosen," Nina said from the stairs.

Jin spun around, jumping at the sound of her voice. Never had he thought that Nina would speak such words of wisdom.

"I'd never thought that hear such words from you."

Nina laughed a little and stepped down from the bottom step.

"You know what the last ever words that your mother told me were?" Jin shook his head and Nina continued. "She told me that even though I kill people for a living that the good spirit shouldn't be clouded."

Jin raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms.

"Meaning?"

"It means…even though you have chosen a dark path and have followed it, doesn't mean that good within you doesn't exist, it's still there," she explained carefully. "Jin, you have the Devil within, but just remember that there's a good person still left inside of you. I think if your mother was still alive then she would say the same thing."

Bowing his head, Jin knew that Nina was right. It had pained him to think of his mother again, remembering that she had told him once that there always a good spirit within everyone, but sometimes corruption and power can block it and that's how Jun told him about Kazuya, a man with a good spirit but broken by power and corruption. Perhaps she knew that Jin would end up the way that he was now, maybe she was warning him about what to watch out for. Since Heihachi's betrayal, Jin only began to realise that this was the way that Kazuya ended up the way he did, the only difference was that Jin wants to end it before it became a never-ending cycle.

Everything…the cursed blood of the Mishima's began with Heihachi throwing Kazuya down that ravine during childhood and selling himself to the Devil for another chance at life.

"I have joined with the Devil, Nina," he explained to her. "It's the only way to defeat Kazuya…and Azazel."

Sighing, Nina turned around. She knew how much this was torturing him and she was willing to support him all the way. Nina wanted him to be free of this curse and it was her job to ensure that he achieved that goal, no matter the cost.

"I'm going to the cemetery later," she told him. "So if you need me, you'll know where to find me."

Nina climbed up the stairs without saying another word.

* * *

_Three Years Ago…_

_The yellow taxi pulled up next to the kerb and two females climbed out of the back seat. The blonde and the brunette looked through the gates of the cemetery, completely covered in a fresh blanket of snow that had fell the night before. Anna suggested after the failed attempt to restore Nina's lost memories that they should go and visit the grave of their father, in which they hadn't done since before the second tournament. _

"_Wait here," Anna told the driver. Turning to her sister, she motioned her head and led the way up the path. _

_Nina sighed and followed her younger sister. There was something lingering in the back of her mind as she walked past the many graves that occupied the yard, but no matter how much she tried, Nina couldn't remember a thing. _

_Eventually, the path led them to a lone grave. Nina stood from afar, frozen in place as she looked at the grave of Richard Williams, whom she had looked up to as a young child. Anna looked back and saw that Nina had her head bowed and approached her slowly, gently placing a comforting hand onto her arm and squeezed gently. _

"_It's ok, Nina," she whispered softly. "He would have wanted the two of us here together."_

_Turning around and walking over to the grave, Anna knelt down before it and laid the bouquet of flowers at the base of the tombstone. Watching this, something suddenly clicked in Nina's head…a flashback…_

…_Nina placing flowers at the tombstone…_

…_Anna approaching her from behind and Nina pulling out her handgun and pointed it at her sister…_

…_Anna shaking her head and showing the flowers in her hand…_

…_Their rivalry…_

"_Ahhh!" Nina cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground, gripping the sides of her head as if it was splitting in half. _

_Jumping around, Anna rushed over to the blonde and tried to comfort her before falling to the ground. Nina had jumped up to her feet and slapped Anna square across the cheek and was now standing above her, heaving heavily. _

"_Don't you fucking touch me!" Nina screamed her abuse. "Why did you bring me here? What, just so you can kill me in front of our father?" _

_Standing up straight, Nina spun on her heel and matched off, leaving Anna on the ground with a sore cheek and a small smile on her face…Nina was starting to remember. _

* * *

_Present Day…_

_Location: Cemetery_

_Time: 1357hrs_

It had been awhile since she was there, in that place. After catching the first flight to Ireland, Anna brought Nina to the cemetery that she was in now and it had triggered a twenty-something year old memory, causing her to lash out. After leaving, Nina took the earliest flight back to Japan, thinking that Anna would go straight to the house of their childhood. That was the last time that they saw each other before the three day battle before the fifth tournament.

Three years later and Nina walked through that graveyard alone, in the same attire that she wore to Russia. No flowers, no Anna…just herself visiting the one man that she had always relied upon up until his brutal death. Stopping at the end of the path, Nina looked at the tombstone, the emotion in her eyes couldn't be seen through her glasses as if it was a barrier and she wasn't going to let anyone in. Taking a few steps forward, she knelt down in the soft snow and stared.

"I hope you're watching over me," she said softly. "Hmph, of course you are, you've always watched over me. If I was only strong enough to grab that gun, maybe then you would still be here, and…"

She bit back the tears.

"…and perhaps I would become a stronger woman than what I am now, than what I thought that I was…" Nina continued, her voice filled with emotion. "I had always thought that I was strong, cold-hearted and not allowing my emotions to get the better of me because of what I've become, but maybe it was all out of fear that I believe that could feel nothing."

Nina allowed a couple of tears run down her face.

"I miss you…"

"I think that he misses you."

Sniffling, Nina turned her head around and saw Jin standing behind her with a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. Slowly, he approached her and knelt down, placing the flowers at the base of the tombstone. He then gazed at her and reached up to remove her glasses, his heart dropping upon seeing her sapphire eyes covered in tears. She needed him like she was for him earlier. Jin never saw her like this before, not even that night in his villa in front of the fireplace did she show as much grief and hurt as she did now.

"Nina, you are the strongest woman that I know and your experiences hadn't made you weak in anyway," he explained her softly. "But even the strong can still show their emotions like you're doing right now, and your love for your father shows that you're a good person, despite the path that you took."

Burying her face into his chest, Nina cried silently and Jin wrapped his arms around her. Years of bottled up emotion, pain and despair was finally starting to drain out of her like escaping blood.

"Why couldn't I pick up that damned gun when I had the chance? If I was only strong enough…"

"But you were just a small child. I know what that's like," Jin replied allowed her to cry into his chest. "I had similar thoughts when Ogre took my mother away, which then awakened my curse as a consequence…I hated that feeling. But I let my emotions go a long time ago and now it's time for you to do the same, just let it all out."

And Nina was doing that, in front of her father's grave and in the arms of the one person that gave her comfort and that she had found herself to love within such a short period of time, kneeling in the cold snow together. Finally, Nina Williams could let go of the bottled up emotions after years and years of despair and finally releasing her own demons within.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done and dusted. Hopefully next chapter I will include the next fight, another attempt on Jin's life and more enemy action, but you all have to wait until next chapter to find out. Until next time, keep those reviews coming :)


	14. Wanted

A/N: Ok, I've already figured out that this will be one of the longest chapters in this entire story as it will be one of the more major chapters. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope you all will enjoy reading it and thanks again for the reviews and adding to favourites, much appreciated guys :)**  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Wanted**

_Several Hours Ago…_

_The young man sat there, in deep thought about what he had to do now, this was no longer just about his petty rivalry with Jin Kazama. No, it was much more than that as he saw what his next opponent was capable of, sending somebody that he came to care about into a hospital bed and just walked away like nothing happened. But this couldn't have happened at a better time, it was possible that Nina Williams was the key to getting to his rival, to exact revenge as he knew that the raven-haired man had set-up his cousin to face the assassin. _

_Hwoarang felt a smirk forming on his lips and then pulled out the note that he received earlier that day. He was required to fly out to Dublin, in which their match was to be held in the assassin's homeland, but there was something else to it. If Hwoarang was to win the fight, then he and Jin would fight to finally settle their rivalry once and for all in an unofficial match. But if was to lose, then he will we captured and forced into service with the Tekken Force due to his previous military experience. Despite risk, this was one that the Korean was willing to take. _

"_The flight for Dublin will be leaving in approximately half an hour, passengers please board now," the announcement boomed through the sound system. _

_Grabbing his bag, Hwoarang jumped up onto his feet and walked off. _

* * *

_March 15__th__ 2008_

_Location: Dublin Airport_

_Time: 0514hrs_

Walking out of the airport, Hwoarang dropped his bag on the ground and stretched upwards after the long flight. Looking around, he saw that the entire place was deserted, not even a taxi was parked on the side of the road and the majority of the lights inside of the stone buildings were turned off for the night. To him, it was practically like a ghost town.

'Damn, where is everyone?' he thought and picked up his bag. 'Better hope there's a motel open or a park bench free somewhere.'

Heading down the street, the only source of light being the street lights, it didn't take him long to find a an older model sports-bike that was stationary in a nearby car park. Of course, with being a well-known street punk, Hwoarang always knew what to do in a situation like this. Running over and dropping to his knees, the Korean pulled out some of the wiring and grabbed a couple of wires and smiled inwardly.

"Let's see if I still have the magic touch…"

Connecting the bare wires together, the bike started with a roar and Hworang laughed in victory as he got up onto his feet and climbed onto seat.

"Hey you! Get off that bike!"

Gulping, the copper-haired man sped off and down the street, leaving a soldier to stand in the middle of the car park to watch. The only problem was, it wasn't his bike either as he was only picking it up from a garage in a nearby town. The owner was going to be pissed once they learned of this. Rushing over to the nearest payphone, the soldier prepared himself for the worst.

"Boss, I think you better inform your bodyguard that her bike was stolen by some copper-haired jackass."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"What? Damn, she's not going to be too impressed when I tell her," Jin replied and sighed. "I think you better keep a low profile. I'll see you in a few hours."

"_Yes, boss."_

Jin sighed and ended the call, placing the phone on the wooden bedside table. Looking over to the sleeping woman beside him, Jin contemplated whether he should risk waking her as he no telling on what she would do if he disturbed her, or let her deal with the soldier. Either way, she was going to be furious. But he had to laugh also as he could only guess the person that was most likely responsible, and he was going to get his punishment later on that day.

Gently grasping her shoulder, he shook her lightly. Stirring, Nina opened her eyes a little and moaned.

"Mmm…what's going on?" the assassin asked groggily, rubbing her eyes and looked at him.

Jin met her gaze, noticing that she was still half-asleep. If anything was going to wake her up completely, it was the fact that her beloved motorcycle was stolen by the very man that she was to fight later. He gave her an unconvincing look and suddenly Nina became worried.

"Jin, what is it?"

"The soldier that was sent to collect your motorbike just called," Jin replied, trying his best to choose his words carefully in hopes not to start another possible world war. "There's been some bad news…it's been stolen."

Suddenly, Nina's eyes widened in shock while her jaw dropped, but quickly narrowed in fury as she quickly tucked the bed-sheet under her arms, covering her bare body. She had sent that soldier to retrieve that motorcycle from a depot on the outskirts of town and bring it to her.

"What?"

The raven-haired man knew that it would get like this and knew that he had to get things under control before that poor soldier would face impending death from one furious assassin would could be out for his blood.

"But I'm sure we can arrange for another…"

It was obvious that Jin was unaware of the possible fact that the motorcycle held a deeper meaning than first thought when her glare hardened even more, and it chilled him to the core.

"Dammit! It's not about that, it's…" Nina's eyes softened a little and sighed, looking away. "The bike…it belonged to my father and I was going to have it rehoused here as he left it to me in his will."

Jin opened his mouth to say something, to apoligise, but then she continued.

"When I left Ireland to fight in the second tournament, I rode the bike out to the depot just in case I never made it back from the assassination attempt," she went on and looked at him. "But now, some idiot allowed it to get stolen and it's probably mangled somewhere…"

"Nina, I think I know who stole it and I think you'll get you're revenge this afternoon."

Her lips formed a smirk, an incredibly dangerous one in a matter of fact. So the street punk unknowingly stole the property of his opponent and risked being maimed in an act of revenge.

"Ah, the hot-headed one that stopped me from hurting that cousin of yours even more," she said. "I'm going to teach him a lesson that he'll never forget."

"Don't hurt him too bad, he'll still be of some use afterwards," Jin told her. "I'm sure my forces will take him down a peg or two, no longer making him a threat."

Nina chuckled and laid back down.

"I'm an assassin, so if anything happens it'll be an accident," she replied and turned her head at him. "I know that you've been up for a while now, I'm not exactly a heavy sleeper."

Jin thought that he had finally learned to control the Devil, but somehow the taunting and the dreams were still there and increased in frequency. Perhaps it was the fact that he had fused with the Devil's powers that the power was beginning to overpower the last remaining part of Jin that kept him in control from making the unexpected transformation.

For the past couple of months, it was Nina's voice that kept him from completely transforming, but Jin was starting to think that next time it might not work if the Devil consumes his mind completely. If he couldn't control it soon, then he could risk killing everyone around him, even the people that he cared about.

"Nina, you already know that I've allowed the power of the Devil to join with me so that I have the strength to finish Kazuya once and for all and to defeat Azazel," Jin explained. "I only did it if the Devil agreed not to hurt you or anymore innocent people."

"Yes, you told me that yesterday," she replied, confused by where he was going with it. "What about it?"

Turning on his side, he cupped her cheek and spoke to her softly.

"The taunts and the nightmares are getting worse and the feeling is getting stronger and stronger. I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from a complete transformation next time."

Nina wouldn't have stuck by him if she didn't know the risk involved, that if he transformed it could mean the end of her. But she knew what he was from the very beginning as she saw him take flight from Ogre's chamber when she awoke from unconsciousness. If she didn't know the risk, then she wouldn't have became his bodyguard and chances were that he could be dead already if it wasn't for her. Every night in his sleep, Jin sensed that Azazel was stirring and becoming more impatient as it started to crave for Jin's Devil Gene so that it could destroy all of existence.

And since she had started sharing a bed with him, Nina could easily tell that influence was starting to grow strong within Jin and still she wanted to keep protecting him as she made a promise to both him and to herself that wouldn't fail…even if it meant her life.

"Jin, there has to be a way that you can control it and you will," she whispered softly and gave him a small kiss on his lips. "Just remember that you don't just have your father's blood, but you've also got your mother's and she will be the one that can help you."

Jin rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, feeling as the soft skin of Nina's body shifted over closer, her leg draped over his as she rested her head onto the hardened muscle of his chest.

'I feel your grip going away, mother,' Jin thought. 'Please just hold on for a little while longer until I can control this curse myself.'

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Foyer_

_Time: 0812hrs_

Even the heightened security couldn't keep the young woman out and now she was on the first floor of the headquarters of the Mishima Zaibatsu. But she had to be here as Julia Chang was on a mission to put an end to Jin's war and destruction due to the prophecy that she had heard of. She knew that if Kazuya and Jin were to meet in battle, then the entity Azazel will surely bring the world down in chaos once the 'Evil Stars' clash.

No, she wasn't prepared to sit back and watch as the world and the nature that she swore to protect get destroyed.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?"

Stopping in the middle of the foyer, Julia looked over her shoulder and watched as Eddy Gordo walked over to her with a look of disbelief on his face. Nobody had got through security since it tightened after the rebel army's raid on the cold sleep facility.

"How did you get past security?" He asked her, sounding a little less firm than he did originally.

"I need to speak with Jin Kazama," she replied, keeping her cool and focus. "I need to stop him before it's too late…"

"And so does everyone else in this world," Eddy cut in forcefully. "Look, I don't know what you want or why you're here, but Jin isn't here and he won't be back for a while…"

Julia sighed and looked to the ground.

"Why are you trying so hard to protect him?" She asked and quickly looked at him with a cold glare. "Why are you protecting a man capable of great evil…"

"I have to save my master and I made a deal with Jin to ensure that he'll get the best possible treatment," the Brazilian explained. "I can't back out now, even that I know that Christie probably won't forgive me, but I think that Jin isn't as evil than that damned father of his."

The two of them stood there for a brief moment, staring each other down. After a while, Julia sighed and shook her head.

"Listen Eddy, this world will be destroyed if somebody doesn't do anything and I'm not going to stand back and let it," she told him evenly. "Just ask yourself this, would your master, if he was to survive, wants to live in a world corrupted by an evil that one man had inflicted upon millions and millions of lives? Would Christie forgive you then?"

The brown haired woman walked past him and stopped.

"I know if I was in her position that I wouldn't, so now you know what you have to do."

She left Eddy standing there alone. In a matter of fact, Eddy had began questioning his position since the rebel attack. He hated the fact that he had to hurt or kill millions of people just to satisfy a deal made between a man desperate to save his master and a man destroying the world for some unknown reason to almost everyone. Most of all, the way that Christie looked at him when he told her everything, he knew that this was hurting her as all she wanted was her grandfather and Eddy back so that they could live their lives back in Brazil.

But Eddy knew that the longer he was to stay with Jin and Mishima Zaibatsu, the more chance that he was going to lose Christie as he was falling for her, beyond the master-student bond that they had shared. He had to suffer the death of his parents and ended up going to prison, but there was no way now that Eddy was prepared for Christie to experience similar pain to what he had been through.

Sighing, he grabbed out his cell phone and dialled a number. It was time to put an end to all this.

"Alert the medical lab that I'll be coming down, the deal is off."

* * *

_Location: Military Base_

_Time: 1513hrs_

The couple in front of the tens of thousand soldiers that stood in perfect formation inside that tiny army base, with a small amount of snow draped on the ground like a sheet. This was certainly a sight that placed a smile upon Jin's face as he knew that his plan was beginning to take shape with the majority of the world in his possession. Nina smiled too as she saw how satisfied her boss was and this made her relax and to be more focused for her fight now that she knew that Jin was in better spirits.

"Now this is what I like to see," Nina said to him. "You should learn to smile a little more often, boss."

Jin smirked and scanned his eyes at his troops.

"Glad that you like it, but don't get too used to it," he replied. "We've still got a little while left to go."

"Alright then, I guess we still have that other problem to deal with."

Jin looked at her, knowing that she was referring to the problem with the rebel army, but he was beginning to see them less of a threat. Quickly climbing up onto the podium, he saluted to the troops and they returned the gesture as if they were programmed to do it like machines.

"I praise you all on your efforts," he said through the microphone. "However, even though this will bring us one step closer to our goal, we still have to fight as there will be people and groups out there that will try to stop us. Keep fighting and soon the world will be ours."

Ending his speech, he climbed down and stopped in front of Nina, who had a slightly amused look on her face.

"What?"

She chuckled and folded her arms over chest.

"Nothing really, just that it was a similar thing that you told the troops in Russia and afterwards something bad happened," she replied.

"Don't worry, nothing of the sorts will happen," he told her evenly, with an unimpressed look and pointed past her. "Besides, shouldn't you be worried about the man standing near that building over there?"

Nina turned around and instantly the amused look turned into something more dangerous as she recognised the person. Looking up at Jin quickly she wondered why he had allowed the person to enter a high security facility. Quickly, the two of them began to walk over.

Meanwhile, Hwoarang watched as the raven-haired man and his bodyguard, in deep purple skin-tight bodysuit approach. Within a year and a half of fighting one another, the Korean could see how Jin changed by appearance alone. Well mostly because Hwoarang's last image of Jin was when he was in Devil form and knocked the copper-haired man unconscious.

Despite the risks involved with this fight, Hwoarang couldn't help but smirk as he now had the opportunity to fight his long-time rival and get revenge for Devil Jin's assault at the last tournament.

"I've got you now Kazama," he said to himself. "Couldn't face me without your bodyguard? I guess that you lost against me like you are now that you need someone to do your dirty work."

Jin and Nina stopped several metres nearby, with the assassin eyeing him down. This guy was sounding way too confident for her liking and could be used to her advantage if she knew how to use it against him.

"So, this is coming from petty criminal who goes around and steals other people's motorbikes?" She taunted and instantly the grin from Hwoarang's face disappeared. "Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied and got into his fighting stance. "Come on, I want to beat that pretty ass of yours since it's telling me to."

Smirking, Nina got into her stance motioned for him to come to her.

"Come on baby, show me what you've got."

The copper-haired man ran at her, launching off one foot to kick at her. But since having quick reflexes, Nina ducked and watched as her opponent flew overhead and landing with his back facing her. Quickly getting up, the blonde threw a head high kick and was unsuccessful as Hwoarang quickly raised his arm up to block it, holding it there as Nina held her leg up in the air.

"I thought for an assassin you could do better than that."

"Don't worry, I haven't even started yet."

Retracting her leg, Nina quickly swept at the man's legs and resulted in going under his feet as he jumped to get out of the way. But he could avoid the second sweep as he ended up landing heavily onto the ground, groaning loudly as pain shot up his back. The assassin raised her leg to her head level and brought it down, aiming for Hwoarang's chest, in which he blocked with both arms and grabbed the leg, throwing it away. In a quick motion, he swept Nina's legs out from under her and jumped up. Seizing the opportunity, he kicked her hard in the side and she flew into the side of a nearby building and landed on the ground.

"Ugh…" Nina groaned as she slowly sat up. There was no doubt that she would have cracked a rib or two.

She stood up and got back into her stance before starting her assault of alternating between low and high kicks, which her opponent was struggling to block until one eventually landed on the side of his face and whipped his head to the side. Knowing that the only way that she could win was on the ground, Nina walked towards the stumbling Hwoarang, who was slightly dazed by the kick, and kicked him upwards with her Geyser Cannon move and he shot up several feet in the air before landing heavily on the ground. Rushing over, the assassin grabbed his leg and bent up into a painful angle before locking it in her hands and legs, executing a leg-lock.

"Ahhh! The fuck?" Hwoarang screamed painfully as he began to feel the bones in his leg breaking. He knew that Nina was a strong woman, but not this strong.

"Now, tell me where my bike is and you might only walk away with a bad limp," she warned and twisted the trapped limb more.

He glared at her hard and spat.

"Fuck you!"

Nina shook her head before readjusting her position and grabbed the second leg, doubling the amount of pain that her victim was in.

"No, if you want to do that for free then you should go see that sister of mine," Nina sneered and smirked. "One more movement and both legs will break and you won't be able to walk for a long time…Now tell me, where is my bike?"

Gritting his teeth, Hwoarang screamed even louder and knew that from nearby that Jin was enjoying the sight.

"Alright, alright! You're bike is…it's outside of the base and in one piece, but please let me go, I quit!"

Satisfied, Nina released his legs and stood up, watching as Hwoarang continued to groan in agony. Smiling, she turned to Jin and nodded.

"I guess I'm through to the next round and you've gained another soldier," she said.

"We'll organise the next round when we get back to Japan," he replied and looked over at his rival. "You lost, which means you are hereby under my command. So don't think that you'll be getting out of…"

A high screeching sound sounded through the air, travelling through Jin's ear painfully as the sound was over-powered by whirling noises like from a helicopter.

"What the hell's that?" Nina asked in a shouting voice as she covered her ears. "What's happening?"

Jin looked down to where he thought Hwoarang was, but saw that the spot was vacant. The Korean man must have escaped while Nina and Jin were occupied with the siren, but now that was the last thing on his mind as he listened to an explosion from nearby.

"_Attention, we're under attack! Please report to your stations immediately!" _

"Jin!" Nina called out from nearby. "It's G-Corporation, we have to get out of here!"

Quickly, Jin rushed to her and they ran across the battlefield as thousands upon thousands of solders from both sides charged at one another and soon it turned into a bloodbath. Up ahead, waves of G-Corp forces attacked them in hand to hand combat. Jin shrugged off his leather coat as an enemy soldier grabbed his arms before kicking him back, taking out a number of them while Nina busied herself with clearing the path. Sending a powerful punch, Jin knocked about five of the enemy down and it wasn't long before the Devil spoke in his mind.

'_Use my power.'_

Jin shook his head and held it.

'No, not yet…'

"Jin, watch out!"

But it was too late as Jin was sent backwards and landed on his back. The soldier ran up and dove at him as he tried to get up, but then a gunshot rang out from nearby and he crumpled to the ground. Jin looked over, seeing that Nina had her handgun out and smelt of gunpowder and lead as she was the one that fired the shot. Quickly getting up, he followed her down the field and to the front gate.

Once outside, Nina looked around and saw that the bike was missing, again.

"Shit, that son of a bitch…"

"Look out!" Jin called out and dove as he heard a gunshot from afar. Landing on top of Nina, who groaned as she was pinned under his body, Jin looked around seeing where that gunshot came from. "Damn, where did that come from?"

Nina lifted her face and was met by the sight of someone that she didn't want to see, hiding in a nearby alleyway dressed in all black.

"Edgar…" She hissed as Jin got off her and instantly she got up and rushed across the street without looking as headed down between the stone buildings with Jin trailing from behind.

How in world did he find her? No one knew of her and Jin leaving Japan other than the top ranking officials of the Zaibatsu and Hwoarang. Plus, security was well tightened before they left. But why would Nina be surprised, the man always seemed to show up wherever and whenever he wanted, especially when he tried to fake his own death and then reappeared to reveal his true identity.

After a minute or so of running, the two of them were suddenly met with a dead end.

"What now?"

Footsteps were heard from behind as both Jin and Nina looked around above them for an exit point, but there was none. The two of them spun around back in at the direction in which they came and Nina was confronted by a familiar face.

"I've got you cornered now, Nina," Edgar said in his heavy British accent. "But I'm afraid that you're luck has just run out as you see that I believe that you've used it up a long time ago on that ship. Because if Lana Lei was dead at the time, then you would have died."

Jin must have been confused at this, because he actually looked it as he continuously gazed between Nina and Edgar. Obviously Nina had led a slightly different life before she entered the tournaments.

Edgar sensed Jin's confusion and explained it all to him.

"Well, Mr. Kazama your bodyguard was once involved in a government operation to bring down organisations such as yours in exchange for freedom," he explained and looked back at Nina. "Yes, she was truly a valuable asset until it all went downhill after I revealed myself to be working for them."

"And still to this day I think of you as a two-faced bastard that should have died when that chopper crashed into the ocean," Nina hissed and pulled her gun at him while he did the same.

"Perhaps we should end this without guns," Edgar suggested and placed his gun back into its holster. Nina raised an eyebrow before throwing hers at Edgar's head, in which he ducks and was met by Nina's foot.

His head whipped back and he rolled back up onto his feet and got into fighting stance.

"That's no way to start a fight, is it?" he asked rhetorically. "I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson, sweeper."

The two of them started to exchange kicks, strikes and everything in between, both had been trained professionally for combat and had no problem meeting each other blow by blow. Swaying and ducking to get out of head high kicks and punches, while they jumped for sweeps, this was truly the battle of the assassins as Jin watched and ready to jump in if Nina was no longer able to fight. But it wasn't long until Edgar found the gap and pushed a kick into Nina's torso and pushed her back several metres and pulled out his gun, aiming for Nina's chest.

Without hesitation, she ducked just as he pulled the trigger and didn't realise the consequence of her actions until she looked at the ground and saw a river of crimson red beside her. Worried, she looked back and saw Jin on his knees and the blood was coming from him as the bullet made a hole through his chest, where his heart was. Collapsing, Jin laid face down in his own blood.

"Jin!" Nina screamed and looked back at Edgar with fury. "You…time to die!"

Getting up, Nina rushed at Edgar and threw up a kick into the side of his face, but he quickly misses by swaying back and comes up to throw the handle of his gun into the side of Nina's head. The blonde woman fell to the ground, out cold with blood coming out of a freshly made wound from her temples. Walking up to the fallen assassin, Edgar rolled the woman onto her back and aimed the barrel to between her eyes.

"I'm sorry Nina, but this is the way it has to end."

He was about to pull the trigger until he saw something move from the corner of his eye and slowly he looked over, feeling his jaw drop at what it was. Edgar was witnessing Jin alive and on his hands and knees, his breath was hitched and a strange aura was floating around him.

"What in the name of?"

Scared, he fired a shot at the young man, but the bullet reflected off into a nearby wall and Edgar was suddenly feeling apprehensive of what was happening.

"What the hell are you?"

The shirt that Jin was wearing ripped off his body as his already large muscles increased slightly and fell to shreds onto the concrete floor as black wings protruded from his back and the markings appeared on his chest. But it wasn't until Jin looked up that Edgar became overwhelmed with fear when noticed the horns sticking out of his head and the markings with the Devil's third eye appear on his forehead and his eyes were crystal white instead of its usual brown. It had suddenly hit him that Jin Kazama was no ordinary human being as his transformation was complete.

"Feel the wrath of God," Devil Jin hissed, holding out his palm and sliced through the air to send Edgar into a wall next to him, knocking him out cold.

Roaring out loud, he noticed that Nina was still on the ground and unconscious. He contemplated in finishing her, but something in the back of his mind told him not to harm the vulnerable woman, her bodysuit torn and ripped from battle, battered and bruised.

'Damn this Kazama blood.'

Kneeling down, he lifted Nina's limp body into his arms and took flight and away from the war torn city.

* * *

_March 16__th__ 2008_

_Location: Destroyed Military Base_

_Time: 0714hrs_

"Hmph, what a mess," Kazuya muttered as he walked through, pushing his feet though the hundreds and hundreds of fallen soldiers from both sides of the conflict.

Next to him, Anna stopped and looked around, feeling slightly sick in the stomach from the stench of rotting corpses and gunpowder. Even most war-hardened individual would feel sickened at the sight as nobody enjoys looking at dead as it was a grave reminder to anyone that's involved with the war itself.

"Hopefully our soldiers can clean this up quickly," she said and walked up to Kazuya, who was standing there with Bruce. "What's going on?"

Bruce looked over at her and handed her the remains of a leather trench coat that he had found on the ground nearby.

"I reason to believe that Kazama was here not too long ago," Bruce informed her. "Which means that your sister would have been here too."

Anna smiled a little and looked at the coat more closely, recognising it as the one that she had photographed Jin wearing that night she spotted him and Nina together at the bar.

"This is his alright," she told him. "So where are they?"

"Edgar took a shot at Nina," Bruce continued. "And then she and Jin chased after him and he managed to trap the both of them at a dead end before combating with Nina and shooting Jin in the chest." He looked at Kazuya. "He managed to knock Nina out before Jin woke up and transformed…which is all that Edgar could remember as he got knocked out."

Kazuya couldn't help but smirk as his feelings were correct, the Devil Gene was swirling within Jin like a whirlpool and was starting to stir the Devil within himself too. His blood…the curse of the Mishima's was starting to awaken and it was only a matter of time before they clash.

"Keep investigating and keep me informed," Kazuya told him. "Chances are that Jin has already left and taken that assassin with him, but make sure this facility is secure and we'll begin our operations."

Bruce nodded.

"Yes, I'll go and rally up a small team to clean up the rest of the city."

He left both Kazuya and Anna alone. After a short moment, Kazuya laughed evilly with a wide grin spread across his lips.

"You better prepare yourself," he told Anna. "You will have a date with your sister soon enough as the tournament grows to a close."

"I'm not worried about that bitch," Anna replied spitefully.

"Well, well your love for your sibling amazes me, Miss Williams."

Anna gave him a slightly hardened glare.

"Hmph, what about your love towards your only son…"

"That's enough," Kazuya snarled and looked around. "Besides, I have more important things to think about than him at the moment. Perhaps we should start organising our next move."

Kazuya started walking on ahead and left Anna standing between a pile of dead bodies on her own.

* * *

_Location: Unknown Beach_

_Time: 1017hrs_

The waves slammed up against the rocks nearby, sending freezing cold splashes of water into the faces of the fishermen that fished there. Yes, even the slightly darkened skies wasn't enough to keep the fishermen from catching their livelihoods and to put food on the table. But it was unknown to them what was down on the beach nearby as the flocks of birds surrounded what was there.

Two bodies lay limp as the waves came up and washed over them, as if it was cleaning any impurities that were present. The woman in the torn bodysuit was first one to wake, he sapphire blue eyes opened slowly as her head pounded hard and felt a mixture of dried blood and saltwater on the side of her face. Groaning, Nina was met by the head of a seagull, which then flew away as she slowly tried to sit up. There she was, with no idea as to how she got onto some unknown beach with her outfit completely ruined, her hair was like a birds nest and was completely pissed at the fact that she got knocked out…

"Jin…" she said quietly and then suddenly realised that Jin was next her as she felt a hand hear hers.

Looking over, she saw the young man in question on his back, unconscious and with those markings still on his forehead and chest, the wings were still protruded from his back. Painfully getting up onto her knees, she gripped his shoulders and shook him gently, hoping that she could stir him. Stopping, Nina watched on as the simple touch of her hands started changing Jin back into his normal self as the signs of the Devil started to disappear. It was strange enough that it usually would be her voice, but this time it was her touch. But there was something else that the assassin found strange and that was the fact that where the bullet had entered his chest, there was no visible scar and it was as if Jin's body had repaired itself.

Slowly, Jin's eyes opened and they were back to its usual brown and saw that Nina was looking down at him, with a look of relief now that she knew that he was ok.

"I transformed and you're still here," he spoke quietly and reached up to run the back of his hand down her cheek. "He really did keep his end of the deal."

Nina smiled slightly and looked around. Yes, she was lucky that time and to escape any injury inflicted by Jin, but this time he managed to complete his transformation. In the first time since she started working for him and learned of his conquest, Nina suddenly began to feel a little bit frightened about what was to happen if Jin lost complete control before facing Azazel and not knowing how to control himself by using the last little bit of innocence that his mother gave him. Well one thing was for certain that was that Nina would be killed, but despite her fears it gave her a reason to try and keep Jin calm and focused on what he had set out to do.

"You've actually had me scared there for a moment," she told him grabbed his hand. "But I'm still determined to stay by you until the end…However, we need to get back to Japan soon and finish up this tournament."

With the help of Nina, Jin sat up and looked out at the ocean.

"We need to get in contact with HQ and inform them of what happened, then we'll get to the airport and catch a flight back before G-Corp get the opportunity to strike again."

As the two of them sat there in the cold, wet sand they started to realise that they were both very wanted people and soon enough the battle between the two Devil's was just around the corner, and neither of them could imagine what was going to be the outcome but they were sure of one thing. Somebody or something was going to die by the end of Jin's campaign, but it was only a matter of saying what or whom will perish.

* * *

A/N: Well that's certainly one action-packed chapter and there's still a little while left to go until the end, but I'm still contemplating whether or not to write a sequel, but that's something I'll think about towards the end but you as the reader can let me know if you think there should be one. Anyway, until next chapter :)


	15. Escalation

A/N: I wasn't planning on finishing this chapter until later on in the week, but since I was still sore from my karate grading I may as well complete it during my recovery day. Anyway, the tournament section will be completed within the next couple of chapters with the final fight spreading out over two. Thanks to those reviews that I have received since my last update and hopefully there will be more after this one.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Escalation**

_March 29__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 1601hrs_

"Who's left in the tournament?" Jin asked as he watched the blonde sitting opposite him, cleaning out her handgun.

After five days of wandering through Ireland, the two of them were able to get to an airport and fly back to Japan. When they awoke on that beach, Nina had recognised it as the beach that her father used to take her to when she was a child and it was hours away from Dublin. However, she didn't want to risk them hitching a ride just in case they would try to assassinate Jin since he was basically the world's most wanted man, so they traveled on foot and avoiding the main roads since that G-Corporation now had majority control of the country.

Shrugging her shoulders, Nina continued to clean her weapon and responded without looking at him.

"I think your father and my sister are still in as well as Steve and that girl that seems to follow us wherever we go, plus I think that old bastard is still hanging on."

Jin chuckled a little and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. Sure, he knew why Xiaoyu was trying to talk him out of the war and because they were friends and nothing more, despite the fact that the attraction was one-sided and the young Chinese girl hadn't been able to move on. But, Jin was willing to continue the war or otherwise the world will end up being worse off than what it is in at that current moment.

However, he could understand why there were so many people that were totally opposed to the war as he had only really explained the reason for it all to one person and she was there sitting across from him.

"You don't need to worry about Xiao, even though I'm curious as to how she managed to get back into the competition when she was eliminated," Jin told her. "But I trust that you will take care of this for me?"

The handgun in the assassin's hand was quickly assembled together and then loaded. Nina smirked as she looked at her boss.

"Don't worry about a thing, I can handle it," she replied and placed the gun on the desk, grabbing the sheet of paper next to it. "I'm just really looking forward to facing that bitch of a woman that I call my sister."

"It truly amazes me the amount of love that both you and Anna share," Jin remarked with a slight grin. "It would out my relationship with Kazuya to shame."

Nina chuckled and looked at the paper, scanning her eyes over the names.

"Don't start comparing what I have with my sister to what you have with your father, even though we're on opposite sides of this war," she stated before looking more closely at two names in particular, a match up that she had hoped to never happen. "What is this?"

Jin raised his eyebrow sceptically.

"What is what?"

"Matching my son with my sister, have you completely lost your mind?" Nina jumped up onto her feet and gave him a hard, piercing gaze. "Just what gave you that idea?"

"Trust me, nothing is going to…"

"Dammit Jin," Nina muttered and buried her face into her hands. "Fuck, you know that Anna would have killed him during that mission and still you go ahead and do this."

Sighing, Jin stood up and crossed his arms. Maybe he did make the mistake of pairing Steve and Anna, but it was too late as the fights were scheduled first thing in the morning. Now all he could do was hope that nothing serious would happen or otherwise risk facing the wrath of the assassin in front of him, shooting daggers at him from the eyes that had usually captivated him. However, the thing that surprised Jin the most was Nina's instant reaction. Perhaps she had finally admitted that Steve was her son and she actually began to care about him. Over the period that Nina had been working for him, Jin had suddenly noticed a change in the blonde woman, especially when she allowed Jin himself in on both an emotional and a physical level.

Was it because they could trust each other or were they starting to feel as if they were in love with one another, like they said after their first time? This was something that either Jin or Nina weren't sure of as those three words could have been said in the spur of the moment.

"I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I'm sure that everything will turn out fine," he told her in a soft tone. "Besides, now we have to track down two people. Hwoarang would have returned to Japan and as for Eddy, he might have gone back to his country."

Nina sighed and sat back down in her chair, crossing her legs and holding her head in one hand.

"Eddy wouldn't be much of a threat to us, but if I see him he'll be placed under arrest," she replied, a hint of rage still left in her voice. "And as for that copper-headed jackass, we should send men out to clean out the entire country, he won't be able to hide forever."

Jin nodded and sat back down, pulling out his cell phone.

"Gather up a team of men, commander, and have them search the city from top to bottom. I'll send a picture of the man that I want captive."

* * *

_Over A Year Ago…_

_Defeated, Heihachi squirmed in the grip of Jin as his Devil Gene fully kicked into gear and the young man transformed in front of his very eyes. Never in the old man's life had he felt scared of anyone at that point of time as he saw the black wings growing out of Jin's muscular back, a steady hand pointed like a spear and ready to strike at Heihachi's throat. _

_Groaning, Heihachi moved his head to the side in attempt to try and avoid the rest of the sight as the markings began to appear on his grandson's body and awaited for his death. He just wanted it over and done with, Kazuya was only lying on the ground a few metres away after being knocked unconscious by Jin. Little did Heihachi know was that Jin was going to end the cursed bloodline right there and then in that temple. First Heihachi, then Kazuya and finally Jin himself. _

_Jin, with the rage and hatred flowing freely through his blood, raised his hand even higher, ready to strike until a white flash appeared before his eyes and there she was…_

'_Mother…' he thought and gasped. But then he realised that it was just a statue, but it was his mother that stopped him._

_Sighing, the young man bowed his head. He couldn't go through with it, regardless of the betrayal that Heihachi was capable of a couple of years previous in Ogre's chamber, the curse that Kazuya had set upon him with. No, he was also a Kazama, the only part of him that remained good and pure and surely if his mother was there to witness the man that he was becoming, she would see that he would have reached a point of no return._

_Deciding to spare the old man's life, Jin threw Heihachi back and stood up straight. _

"_Thank my mother…" he said and closed his eyes. "Jun Kazama…" _

_Heihachi, still shaken by his near-death experience couldn't do anything but watch Jin walk away from him and take flight, allowing the light of the moon to enter and the black feathers floating down slowly to the ground…_

* * *

_Present Day…_

_March 30__th__ 2008_

_Location: Honmaru Ruins_

_Time: 0945hrs_

It had been a while since he was at that temple, but now it was nothing but a big pile of rubble. Heihachi could remember vaguely of the fight before the explosion, where he and Kazuya recovered from their encounter with Jin and then were attacked by JACKS. The two of them fought side by side, but Heihachi knew better than to trust Kazuya to stick by and soon found himself thrown onto the ground and the robots had him pinned. Kazuya managed to get out before the explosion happened and the old man was thrown several miles away.

But now he was ready to exact his revenge and to get some answers.

'That no good bastard will soon know of the consequence of betraying me like that,' he thought with an evil grin planted on his face.

And just as he heard the footsteps behind him, Heihachi knew who it was.

"Never thought that you would show your face," he said and turned around, meeting the amused face of Kazuya. "You probably thought that I was dead."

Kazuya couldn't help but chuckle. He had thrown that man down a ravine, just as he experienced when he was a child, and still Heihachi survived. So in that case, Kazuya wasn't that surprised as most people were as he heard reports that his father had survived.

"Not really, I was just looking forward to the opportunity to smack you around again."

"Hmph…" Heihachi cracked his knuckles and got into his fighting stance, narrowing his eyes at his son's smug grin. "You will pay for your cowardly act you bastard."

But the grin never left Kazuya's face as he too got into position.

"Did you really think that I was going to die alongside you, especially after everything you did?" The younger man's expression suddenly turned serious. "You took everything from me and now that I have everything back, you are no longer a threat to me. But, I still want my revenge."

The wind picked up into a strong gust, but both men stood strong before charging at one another. Punches and kicks were thrown each other in combination with grabs and throws, with both men able to block and to evade easily until a punch from both sides connect with their jaws. Spitting out blood, Kazuya smirked and got back into fighting stance.

"Hmph, is that all you've got?"

"Far from it," Heihachi responded, cracking his neck and got back into position and quickly the battle continued.

* * *

_Location: Secret Garden_

_Time: 0950hrs_

"Well, well," Anna said in a sneer. "Isn't it my dear nephew, so how's it going?"

Steve was approaching her, but soon stopped several metres away. He wanted to get his revenge for what happened at Millennium Tower, for capturing and torturing him and his friends. Plus, for his loss to her in the previous tournament in which allowed her to go on and face Nina, and without anyone noticing Steve was there in the crowd. He had watched his mother dominate her younger sibling and when she won he couldn't help but smirk.

"Enough with the friendly chit-chat," Steve said forcefully and got into fighting stance. "I want to take you down…"

"Why the rush? Don't you want to get to know me better?"

Steve scoffed.

"I know your type and I don't favour incest very much, so don't even think about it."

The brunette woman gave a mock-hurt expression and sighed. Regardless of whatever action that she would take, either one was going to be more than enough to infuriate Nina even further.

"Oh, that's too bad," she replied in her usual seductive manner and got into stance. "But it's probably for the best since that Kazuya doesn't like me eying off other men..."

The young man threw up a little in his mouth after receiving a visual image of his aunt and the man that was responsible for what happened to his mother actually doing it. It was more than enough to drive any person insane.

"Shut up and let's get this over and done with!" Steve cut her off and charged at his opponent.

He brought his arm back, winding up for a big punch. Unfortunately, Anna saw what he was going to do and sidestepped quickly as Steve threw his punch forward. Confused, he wondered where she went and received his answer as the Irish woman brought her knee into his sternum, knocking the wind out of him. Clenching the now tender spot, he looked at her, smirking as tried to suck the air back in.

"My, my," she taunted. "You still haven't learned a thing, have you?"

Furious, Steve rushed over and began a fury of fast uppercuts and hook punches, gaining the advantage as Anna was on the back foot. A couple of punches missed her by at least half an inch as she ducked a high hook. Quickly moving to the side, the woman threw a quick kick up to the side of Steve's head, but he quickly ducked and as the kick swung around he sent a powerful strike into her a cry, Anna was sent flying onto the ground a few metres away. It was a strong punch since she felt at least three ribs break and now she was lying on the ground unable to sit up and all she could do was watch as he started walking up to her. Steve was preparing himself to end this fight, but Anna was going to have the last laugh as she quickly reached her hand down into the slit of her red dress and revealed a handgun and quickly fired three shots. He could have dodged them, but it was too late as he felt fast paced lead enter into three points of his body: one in the right shoulder, one in the left thigh and the final one in the abdominal region.

Steve inhaled a sharp breath and began to feel light-headed and watched as Anna rolled sideways and got up onto her feet. Quickly, she went over and smashed a kick right into his temple, sending him onto the ground. Breathing heavily, she looked down at the young man, unconscious as his life started to drain out of him. She didn't want to have to resort to this, but it was like an automatic reaction and it felt like that she had no control over it.

Anna turned around and was about to walk, but then sighed. No matter of the fact that the man on the ground was Nina's son, she could allow someone to die just because of feud that she had with her older sister.

"Anna, what happened here?"

She didn't turn around to see Edgar walk up beside her, little shocked by the wounded man on the ground.

"Take him to the hospital and tell them to inform Nina," she told him evenly. "I think she will suffer enough from this, and I want her to be fired up for when we fight."

Without another word, she left the dark-haired man to clean up the mess.

* * *

_Location: Rooftop_

_Time: 1112hrs_

The girl with pigtails swung a high kick towards the head of the blonde assassin, but misses as Nina ducked underneath. Xiaoyu had her back turned and by the time she could turn back around, Nina came up with a Geyser Cannon and launched the girl a high in air, resulting in her landing heavily on the ground. At that instant, the assassin knew that she had won the fight as Xiaoyu was sprawled out upon the ground, barely able to move.

Sensing her victory, Nina nodded to the Zaibatsu official nearby. The suited man saluted to his superior and rushed off to inform headquarters of the victory, the blonde quickly glanced back to her fallen opponent before stepping off to leave. As she started to leave, Nina's thoughts soon turned to the fact that she could be facing either Steve or Anna next while Kazuya would have to fight through Heihachi to earn the right to face Jin.

'Dammit, better get out to that fight and see if that bastard needs my assistance,' she thought bitterly at the mere idea that she might have to intervene once again to ensure that Kazuya doesn't end up losing.

"Hey…Wait!"

Nina continued to walk on despite hearing the weakened voice of Ling Xiaoyu. Usually, she wouldn't be one to stop for a fallen opponent, but what the younger female said next somehow made something click within the blonde woman's mind.

"Why are you trying so hard to protect Jin?"

Stopping in her tracks, Nina slowly rotated her head, peering at the girl with a slightly narrowed gaze. No one had ever asked her that question before and it had thrown Nina off balance, and to tell the truth she didn't quite know the answer. True, she had grown close to Jin over the period that she had been working for him to point of them developing a romantic relationship with one another. At first, Nina would have thought that she was doing it for the money, but somehow she felt as if it were no longer the case, But now, not even she knew why she was working so hard just to protect him and make his plan to succeed.

She had told him that she loved him, but did she mean it? Or was it said in that moment of passion?

"Listen, I don't know why I am," Nina replied after a short while. "But I can ensure you that Jin will be safe and nothing will happen to him."

"Then promise me that you'll try to stop him from what he's planning on doing," Xiaoyu pleaded in that high-pitched, girlish manner. "If you truly do care for him, then you would stop him."

Sighing, the assassin looked away and bowed her head. Why was she supporting him anyway? Because it was her job to, to help Jin eliminate his enemies and escalate the war so that the world ended up having so much negative energy built up that Azazel would awaken and the full-force of his plan was to be fulfilled. But if Nina claimed to have loved him as she had claimed to have said to him, then shouldn't she be stopping him? Then she got her answer.

Nina actually meant those three words, but she didn't really want to admit that she had fallen in love with him in order to spare her feelings for when he was to sacrifice himself, maybe that was why she wanted to try so hard to protect him. Over the years since her father died, she no longer believed in love as she was stuck in the mind-frame of that she would always get hurt in the process. But not just with men, but with other people. Nina's relationship with her mother fell apart soon after and they never spoke again when Nina moved out of home to pursue her career as an assassin. Her relationship with Anna was only made worse and their rivalry grew into something even more fierce than trying to get the most attention from their father.

Indeed, Nina could say that a lot of the relationships that she had with the people in her life had been developed from her inability to trust others.

"I can't promise anything, but I can try," she managed to say after a while. "But I want you to stay away or otherwise you won't be so lucky next time…"

A soldier came running up to the assassin, as if he had something urgent to tell her.

"Bad news just came through about the fight between Anna Williams and Steve Fox," he told her.

Nina looked at him, a slight look of disapproval on her face.

"What is it?"

"Mr. Fox is in hospital in a serious condition," the soldier replied. "Apparently he was admitted with three gunshot wounds and head trauma. Some guy called Edgar Grant brought him in."

Nina, who had quickly felt a sudden rage in her body, shook and the soldier took a few steps back.

"Dammit! God fucking dammit!" She bellowed. She had trusted Jin to make sure that nothing would happen, but most of all she wanted to murder Anna she had no doubt that her younger sibling had done this. "Take me to the hospital immediately." She looked back at Xiaoyu. "Take her with us as she is in need of treatment."

The soldier nodded and proceeded to help the young female up and escort her to the waiting helicopter. Nina followed up from behind and knew that Anna had some explaining to do when the two of them meet.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

The grey-haired man was on the ground, unable to move after his body was ravaged by the furious strikes of the man standing above him. Kazuya watched as his father struggled to move and was falling in and out from consciousness. It was time to end it, to eliminate the man that threw him down that ravine when he was a child and made him the man that he was today. He swore that he would kill his father after making a deal with the Devil and now there he was, standing tall and ready to exact his revenge.

Bending down, Kazuya seized Heihachi's throat and hoisted him up, squeezing tightly and suddenly Heihachi found it hard to breathe as his airway began to close at the pressure being applied and the grip was getting even tighter. Kazuya narrowed his eyes slightly as the muscles in his forearm constricted and then raised his free hand behind him, ready to strike to end it all. But something happened just as he was to punch, as if a thought at the back of his mind was telling him not to go through with it and suddenly the flash of the only person that ever saw the good in him appeared before him.

'Jun Kazama?' he thought and his eyes widened. 'What the…?'

Bowing his head, he threw his father aside and instantly his shoulders relaxed. Why did she just suddenly appear like that?

"Be fortunate that I'm sparing your life," he said and turned around. "Because next time I'm not going to hesitate in taking it."

Heihachi let out one last groan before slipping into unconsciousness just after he watched his son leave.

* * *

_March 31__st__ 2008_

_Location: Downtown Hospital_

_Time: 0413hrs_

Machines beeped as the unconscious man's heart beat and his breathing was heard clearly as the tube was feeding oxygen down into his lungs. His skin felt cold as the blonde woman's hands grasped his, watching his chest raise and lower with each breath. With his injuries, it was truly a miracle that he was alive and that he survived the surgery due to the massive blood loss that had occurred. Nina never had thought that she would be sitting at a hospital bedside, hoping that the person would survive.

Usually on her assassination targets, if they survived she would go the hospital and kill them there in stealth by either giving them a lethal injection or cutting off their oxygen supply. But there she was, not committing such an act and praying that her only son would wake up soon. She had been there since she first arrived after her fight and was quickly informed upon arrival that Steve was in surgery and in a critical condition with three gunshot wounds. The operation took a few hours due to small complications, but was soon deemed a success with all three bullets extracted. The doctors came in a few hours ago and insisted that she was to go home and rest, but Nina convinced them that she wasn't going to leave until he woke up.

"Steve, if you can here me please wake up soon," she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper and with a weak smile. "I want to tell you about how will kick your bitch of an aunt's ass for what she did to you."

"Nina."

She didn't look at the doorway, which was occupied by the raven-haired man in the long leather coat. He had stood there for the past few minutes watching her, clearly in grief over her son's condition. After the surgery, the doctor told Nina that the bullet that was in his abdomen narrowly missed his vital organs, so he was lucky indeed but it didn't help the fact that Steve was incapacitated because of Anna. Jin felt his heart drop for the woman and slowly he walked in, closing the door behind him and stood at the other side of the bed.

"When are the fights happening?" she asked him without looking. "I want to kill her."

"One week exactly within the ruins of the Honmaru," Jin replied. "The fights will be held at the same time and in the same place." He trailed his eyes down to where the hands were joined. "He'll pull through, he's strong just like you."

Nina shot her gaze up at him.

"Me? Strong? Then why am I here acting like some grieving mother who looks as if she was about to lose her child?" she responded, her voice was hard. She sighed and then suddenly her voice softened. "I'm sorry, but I've never been in this position before and if I was strong, then I wouldn't be sitting here in this condition. Never in my life that I have felt so much anger…"

Anger…the very emotion that Jin was very well acquainted with. But the thing was, he didn't have any children to know what Nina was going through, all he had was a father that wanted him dead and a grandfather that wants to take back the organisation. With Steve now in that bed, machine beeping and monitoring each beat of his life and pumping the air that feeds it. It was a daunting sight and all Jin could understand at that moment was Nina wanting to kill her sister, adding fuel to the already raging fire.

One week was going to come up quickly and if they both survive it, it'll only be a matter of time before the final stretch...to the end of Jin's life.

* * *

A/N: The fire certainly is raging and the stage is set for a final confrontation, but the story still has a while to go yet. Be warned, there will be a small twist within the next couple of chapters. Until next chapter :)


	16. Premonition

A/N: Two chapters later and there's another one. Well, this is the chapter that most of you have been waiting to see, a battle between Jin and Kazuya. I know that I had said that I was planning to spread this over two chapters, but I wanted this to be a longer chapter and I wanted it done before I go away to fight in a karate tournament over the weekend (hopefully I will do well). Anyway, enjoy this chapter and the ending will link into the next chapter or two.**  
**

Warnings: Character death

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco._  
_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Premonition**

_Jin's Dream…_

"_I sense the anger growing stronger within you," Devil Jin spoke, appearing in front of him and there was nothing in that dark world but them. "Let it guide you."_

_Jin had his eyes closed, trying to pretend as if it was his mind that was talking, he was one with the Devil and not separate from it. Therefore, he would at least have the chance to control the very thing that had brought upon so much evil upon the world._

"_All I care about is to defeat my father and to be a step closer to eliminating this evil for good," Jin replied. "But if that means using you, so be it." _

_The evil laughter echoed through his ears, like calling out in an empty cave and the words ring back. _

"_What about that bodyguard of yours? Don't you care about her too?" _

_Jin snapped his eyes open, looking at the being in front of him. _

"_Just make sure that she doesn't get harmed…"_

"_Jin! Don't do it!" _

_That voice…Jin couldn't help but gasp in shock, almost in fear as the one voice that was abruptly taken away from him could only now exist in his dreams. _

"_Mother…" Jin breathed and looked up in the air. "Where are you?" _

_She was nowhere to be seen, but again Jun spoke._

"_Jin, listen to me," she told him in that soft motherly tone that Jin once knew. "What you're doing is only to hurt not just the people around you, but yourself. What if the plan fails and you gave your life for nothing?" _

"_Mother, I wouldn't know until I try and I'm doing this so that the people that I care about won't suffer," Jin explained and then looked back at his Devil form. "It's too late."_

"_No it isn't, I know that there's still a good man still left in your father and in you for that matter, there has to be another way around this…"_

"_Foolish woman…" Devil Jin hissed. "Don't you understand that he needs me to defeat Kazuya?"_

_Jin never thought he would see this, both his alter-ego and his mother debating and trying to persuade him. Both the angel and the devil with one telling him to move into the light and the other one trying to keep him into the darkness, into the shadow that was consuming his soul. _

"_Do you…do you love him?" Jin finally asked. "Did he ever love you?"_

"_Yes Jin, I have loved your father and I wanted to free him from the demon that consumed his soul," Jun replied. "And I still do. Which is why I don't want you to go through with this because you're only going to hurt her." _

_Suddenly, it clicked in Jin's mind about the reason why Nina was in such a mess over the past week, since her encounter with Xiaoyu. Why couldn't he see it? Bowing his head, he closed his eyes._

"_You love her, don't you?" Jun continued on. "It's ok to feel scared, I've been watching over her too and something tells me that there's something preventing you to say those words and meaning it."_

_Jin snapped his head up and saw that the Devil had disappeared and was replaced by Jun, just the way that Jin had remembered her. He knew that this was just a dream, but he hasn't had dream about her for so long, not since before the evil began to grow within. _

"_I…we don't really know how to, the both of us had been betrayed and broken that…"_

"_That it had made the two of you stronger people," Jun finished his sentence. "Just tell her before it's too late and maybe then, things will be a lot easier for the both of you. Now I need you to wake up, try to get through to your father before something terrible happens." _

"_Mother…I…What's going on?"_

* * *

_Present Day…_

_April 7__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Quarters_

_Time: 0723hrs_

Gasping, Jin sat up in his large bed and most of all, alone. Ever since the first time of spending the night together, Nina would usually come to his room or he would go to hers, but it was hard to ever spot the two of them never entering or leaving their quarters together. But over the past week, since her encounter with Xiaoyu and being in that hospital room at Steve's bedside, Jin had noticed that Nina had become more distant over each passing day, most noticeably when he told her about that they were to fight both Kazuya and Anna.

But perhaps he couldn't blame her, there was a job to be done first before they could focus on getting through this bump in the road and Nina, in Jin's opinion, was probably just trying to separate business from her own personal life. An assassin's duty, to be able to keep work and self separate or risk failing. However, Jin couldn't ignore what his mother said to him in his dream, what if he couldn't get through to Kazuya and he falls in the end, well there was one thing that was for certain and that was that Nina would never know what he truly felt. Maybe that's what she had meant, the assassin was already internally struggling to cope with everything in regards to Jin and the war that maybe with Jin sacrificing himself and that neither one of them were able to say those words and mean it was going to be the final straw.

Perhaps if Nina knew, then it would ease some of the pain as she would be able to tell him, and also that the other side of his bed wouldn't be so cold as it was that the present time.

'I'll talk to her after the fight,' he thought and pulled the covers off, throwing his legs over the side of bed and revealed that he was in nothing but a pair of black sweatpants. 'I just hope that it's not too late. But why do I have the feeling that something bad is going to happen?'

* * *

_Nina's Dream…_

"_You're a disgrace to our family…" Anna taunted. "You don't know how to love."_

_Nina looked around wildly at the dark realm that she was stuck in. She could hear Anna, but the younger woman was nowhere in sight. _

"_What the hell do you know anyway?" Nina retorted. "At least I don't whore around like you. Our father would be disgusted at you if saw what you were doing." _

"_Well that's it, I could never measure up to you, Nina. Right up until his death he always favoured you." _

_Flash…A stinging white flash hit Nina hard and forced her to close her eyes as the sensation felt like sand being rubbed in continuously. It was excruciating to open her eyes and then it wasn't until she heard her father's voice that she opened her eyes and saw that she was on her knees in the snow ground that Nina had hoped that she would never see again. _

"_Father…" she whispered and saw Richard Williams getting up to fight off one of the assailants. Nearby was her, as a vulnerable twelve year old girl shaking and terrified as she couldn't do anything but watched her father get pinned to the ground and then that's when he told the girl to get the gun in front of her. If it was the adult Nina, the one that young girl grew into, then she wouldn't hesitate to grab the weapon and fire. But it was too late as one of them men got off the ground and grabbed it and shot wildly, hitting Richard in the process. _

_Nina gasped and sat back in the snow, watching her father die again and felt herself feeling nothing but hopelessness. Why was Anna doing this to her?_

"_Anna, what are you…"_

"_Nina, he would be disgusted at you because you were the one that allowed him to die and all you had to do was pick up the gun. You were a coward." _

_Flash…The flash that time wasn't as painful and then she felt her arm being stretched up and then heard the whirling of a helicopter. Looking up, she saw Anna, smiling at her and then looking ahead. _

"_Now we're even sis…"_

_The sisters looked at one another again before Anna released her grip, allowing Nina to fall towards the ocean…_

_Flash…Nina opens her eyes and looked around, realising that she was being dragged by Tekken Force soldiers and it was only until she looked down at her naked body that she realised where she was. The cold air brushed over her skin, making her shiver in combination with fear. Nina remembered before that point, she was beaten and the soldiers that were charged in removing her garments touched and caressed her body and there was nothing that she could do about it. _

_They reached the end of the corridor and into the laboratory, a large glass, mechanical tube hovered above the pool of water and this was going to be Nina's prison until whenever they decided to wake her up. She felt rage flow through her body as she began to struggle against the soldier's grip. Nina was dragged up to Kazuya and Anna, who stood next to him in front of the metal steps and dressed in a white gown. The assassin felt her head whip sideways as Kazuya slapped her and motioned his head to the soldiers who then carried Nina up the stairs and forced her onto the cold metal slate, restraining her wrists and ankles with the metal binds. She wanted to scream out for help, but she couldn't…she wouldn't because Nina knew that no one would come for her. _

_Kazuya appeared and glared down at her as the slate moved into the tube and then soon lowered into the below freezing water. Nina's eyes felt heavy, her breathing was hitched and her skin soon felt like pins and needles until the point where she felt so numb that all she could feel was her own fear and soon…she could feel nothing. _

"_Anna…please…" Nina said, the world going dark and she felt tears prickle her cheeks. "No more…"_

"_I'm only getting started, my dear sister…"_

_Flash…_

'_What's happening? Where am I?'_

_Her heart rate increased, blood pressure rising as the motor began to run and the machines that had monitored her lifelessness started to detach. _

'_What the? What's happening to me?'_

_She began to hear things as her consciousness was been restored and her nose tingled as the glass tube slid open and began to surface._

'_Why can't I open my eyes?' she panicked. 'I…I can't breathe…'_

'_Wake up Nina Williams, you must kill Jin Kazama…' Ogre's voice spoke to her. _

_The first breath was hitched and Nina's eyes snapped open. Gasping desperately for air, she struggled against her binds and then the darkness returned. _

"_Anna..."_

_Flash…the grave of Richard Williams…_

_Flash…her son, the two of them face to face for the first time and all Nina could to was to stand there confused and not knowing what to say…_

_Flash…the street around her was destroyed and Nina had just dove to the side to narrowly miss the explosion that Anna's rocket caused…_

_Flash…Ogre's chamber and pointing the gun at Jin and under Ogre's control, like a puppet…_

_Flash… Now Nina was watching back to a couple of months ago, at her and Jin making love for the first time on his bed and their sweating bodies gliding along one another naturally. _

_Flash…Nothing, nothing but her and that voice…_

"_How…"_

"_I can see your memories and use them against you," Anna told her. "And it's been great to watch, hasn't it? Who would ever thought that you could love someone and do it like a…"_

"_Stop right there!" Nina screamed and fell to her knees, holding her temples. "Get the fuck out of my head! I've had enough!" _

_Flash…Nina looked up and saw a purple spirit in front of her. Gasping, she knew what it was and hoped that nothing bad was going to happen. _

"_Oh please no…" _

_The spirit then flew at Nina, causing her to scream as it entered her body…_

* * *

_Present Day…_

_March 7__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 0734hrs_

Waking in a cold sweat, Nina bolted upright and it was just like waking up from cryosleep all over again, confused and scared. Her eye scanned around the room and it soon set in that she was still in her quarters, alone, which was an unusual thing to happen for the past couple of months. Most of the time Jin would take her to his room or he would come in sometime during the night whenever he experienced a bad dream, which meant they were constantly seen leaving each other's quarters together.

However, Nina somehow felt herself distancing from him over the past week. She still hadn't told Jin about her thoughts after her round with Xiaoyu, perhaps it was just her way not to get hurt. With that thought, Nina pushed off the covers and swung her bare legs over the side, looking down at the ground.

'Is that why I can't…' she thought before burying her face in her hands. '…Oh god, I thought I had been letting him in, but now I've been pushing him away…'

Nina's thoughts over the week mostly had revolved on two things…her anger towards Anna and also the fact that Steve was still comatose in that hospital, she really wanted to make that bitch pay and forced herself into solitude. But also, Nina wanted to get her mind off her own inability to express herself and telling Jin meaningfully that she loved him and not that she fell for him, but again it was all due to her fear of getting hurt.

'But if I don't tell him and he goes ahead and faces Azazel, then I'll feel nothing but regret knowing that he had died without knowing,' she thought. 'Maybe I'll talk to him after the fight today, if we both make it out alive.'

Since she was younger, her father had been honing her to become a great assassin like he was. But it wasn't until he died and Nina left home that she was built into the cold hearted assassin that she was well known for, feared by many and never missed her mark and was able to separate herself from the job. The perfect assassin and was only enhanced when she had lost her memories to the point in which she could no longer feel anything. sh

However, when Nina aimed that sniper rifle at her only son, she learned to feel other emotions again and then seeing Anna again was the final trigger and all her memories came rushing back, as if she was seeing her life flashing in front of her.

Since before that first night that her and Jin had spent together, the other side of Nina's bed had been cold, so cold that anything that touches it would freeze, with the exception of Jin who had warmed that side recently. But over the past week, it has gone cold and the assassin knew that she had to do something, say anything to make that sensation to disappear and to be able to feel again.

But her dream, the flashbacks of her life up until now and the Devil entering her and becoming one, what was that about? Nina thought that it didn't mean anything, but perhaps it was trying to tell her something, like a bad premonition that makes a person to feel as if something horrific was about to happen.

* * *

_Location: Honmaru Ruins- Dojo_

_Time: 1526hrs_

Darkness, only pure darkness existed in that place with the exception of the faint crack of light peering in. Well, that was how Jin entered that place in the first place before the explosion, unconscious and completely unaware of everything that was happening around him. Now, over a year later and both he and his father were to battle in the midst of the ruins where they had first met in an array of violence and hatred with Kazuya trying to retrieve the other half of his Devil Gene and Jin wanting to kill him and to end the bloodline. This was a day in which two family feuds would hopefully end as the woman standing next to him too had a score to settle.

Upon leaving Gargoyle Tower, neither of them had said much to one another, just mainly about the task at hand and since arriving, the silence returned and Nina stood there in her normal cat-suit, watching the door and looked as if she was going to attack Anna the moment she walks through. Jin couldn't blame her either, he had spent the entire time with arms crossed over his bare chest and staring down at the ground. Maybe he didn't have to kill him, but then again that might be the only way to defeat a man who is one with the Devil.

A cold draught suddenly entered the room, sending a shiver upon his already cold skin. Jin looked over to the door to the two people that caused both he and Nina so much misery, walking towards them and the door closed behind them as if it would in a haunted house, sending an echo and shaking the room. Despite the explosion that happened, this part of the temple had remained somewhat intact. Quickly looking across at the person next to him, eyes narrowed and spitting venom just like a snake, deadly to anyone or anything that touches it. Well, that was the best way to describe those blue orbs and soon Jin decided to turn his attention away and back to the enemy, who were now standing several metres away.

"I was wondering whether or not you were going to show your face," Anna sneered, looking directly at Nina. "Especially when that son of yours is in a coma."

"You know what Anna, you're nothing to me but a pest that won't go away," Nina told her, her voice was hard. "And now you will pay for what you did."

Not wasting another minute, Nina rushed in a blur of fury at her red dressed sibling. She struck her and sent Anna back a few metres, making her spit out blood and then hissed.

"You bitch."

With that, Anna ran at the blonde and the two sisters went through the wall nearby as the younger woman tackled the assassin and they disappeared from the sight of the two men. Both Kazuya and Jin clenched their fists and got into their respective fighting stances.

"Finally, I will take back what's mine," Kazuya said to his son.

"I won't hesitate in finishing you off this time," Jin replied.

They ran at each other, fists drawn back and then in unison they brought their punches forward and connected to each other's jaws at the same time.

The dust from the newly formed hole cleared and it was evident that Anna had the upper position, arranging Nina's left leg in a leg-lock and caused the blonde to cry out in agony from the awkward angle. But this however didn't deter Anna from increasing the pressure on the bend and soon found herself smiling. Nina shut her eyes, trying to get her mind off the pain and to try and get of this position.

* * *

Realising that she had her arms free, the blonde woman quickly reached down to her thigh and unsheathed the knife that she had strapped. Soon, it was Anna who was crying out in pain as Nina sliced the knife at the brunette's lower leg and instantly she felt the pressure on her own leg decrease, but the pain still remained. Nina slowly got onto her knees, feeling that some of the ligaments and tendons had been damaged and watched as Anna gripped her wound, even though it was only shallow. The sisters stared at one another for a while, it was just like that exploding ship all over again.

"You should give up, you'll never beat me," Nina said evenly and crossed her arms. "So maybe I should just put you out of your misery."

"I could never quite measure up to you, always looking down at me," Anna told her, seething. It wasn't long though before she smirked, something of which Nina couldn't understand. "Maybe you should worry about what's behind you."

Nina raised a quizzical eyebrow before slowly turning around to end up looking down the barrel of a handgun that was now aimed at the bridge of her nose. Edgar was there, with that same look on his face when they were in this position all those years ago, and Nina couldn't help but to be amused.

"Well isn't this a position that's familiar," she said, sounding amused. "Why didn't you just shoot me when I wasn't looking?"

Edgar sighed and lowered his gun slightly.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I did that?" he replied and raised his gun again. "Now there's nothing to stop me from implanting a bullet into you."

Smirking, Nina spun around low and brought her leg into a spinning kick into the gun-wielder's hand. The gun flew out of Edgar's hand and he held his hand, feeling a few of the little bones break.

"Damn!" He cursed and then laughed to Nina's surprise. "Well, well. You're not going to give up without a fight. I guess then we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Quickly, Edgar threw a punch out and made contact with the assassin's jaw and as Nina fell back from the blow, he came in with a sweeping kick. Catlike reflexes kicked into gear and the blonde rolled back, narrowly missing the striking foot and ended up back up onto her feet and saw that the fellow sweeper was about to attack again. Nina blocked an on-coming kick with one of her own and then with the same leg came up in the opposite direction to strike the side of his face. Edgar fell to the ground and looked up at her.

"Still rusty are you?" Nina taunted.

"Perhaps I am," he replied and stumbled up onto his feet while holding his injured jaw. "But can you handle fighting two of us at once."

"Huh?"

Nina spun around and blocked an incoming kick from Anna before Edgar came in to strike, in which the assassin parried to get out of the away. This was going to be nightmare.

* * *

The ground shook as Jin landed on the ground, sending the vibration up the wooden columns and making the ceiling move violently. Kazuya still had his fist outstretched and smirked as he saw his son on the ground. In the time that they had been fighting, they still hadn't left that room, probably because both of them wanted to destroy each other in the one place that they both met in.

Jin, who had managed to sit himself up watched as his father and nemesis started walking over to where he was. At that point in time, he couldn't help to feel the rage flow through his veins, the blood began to stir and the raven-haired man began to think that he wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer. Yes, over the past few weeks Jin had found some control over his transformations, but there was just something about been in that place with Kazuya was making him to lose control again.

Getting up onto his feet, Jin took off at breakneck speed dove at his enemy, pinning him to the ground and unleashed an assault of punches right at Kazuya's face. But being the type of person that had survived being thrown into a volcano and lived to tell the tale, the pinned man underneath had managed to throw the furious young man off of him so that he rolled back and both men ended up on their feet.

"Good, I sense it flow through you," Kazuya said. "Now, release it as my blood too is screaming."

"_Use me…it's the only way!" _Devil Jin screamed in his head.

Jin held the sides of his head and hissed in pain and anger as he dropped to his knees.

'Please…not now!'

"_Do it! Now!" _

'…Forgive me mother…'

"_That's it, release your anger!" _

"…Ugh!" Jin screamed, up into the sky and making the walls shake furiously.

Kazuya gasped a little and took a few steps back, this was the moment he had been waiting for. This was the first time that he was going to see the half of his Devil Gene that he gave to Jin in action.

"That's it, transform," Kazuya said to himself. "Embrace our cursed blood."

The markings soon appeared on the younger man's chest, arms and forehead as the massive black wings grew out of his back and spread its black feathers onto the ground and caused Jin to scream out even louder. Twin horns soon followed, poking out of the skin like some imbedded object, making Kazuya smile even more. Deciding not to waste anymore time, he began his transformation too, a purple mist surrounded him and soon engulfed his entire being. And what was the result? A purple demonic being that laughed evilly while the other one roared, finishing off his transformation and now stood there with the only markings that remained were the original mark on his upper arm, chest and forehead with the Devil's third eye.

"Finally I get to destroy you," Devil Jin hissed. "Now you will die!"

"Let's fulfil the prophecy," Devil Kazuya said and in an instant the battle of the two evil stars could finally begin as they flew at each other and the whole building shook.

* * *

The room shook violently as Nina blocked a kick from Anna and dodged a punch from Edgar. Heavy creaking could be heard, ringing through her ears and suddenly the three of them stopped their fighting and looked around the room. The male sweeper looked absolutely confused, the exotic woman was wondering what was going on while the blonde assassin knew exactly what was happening.

'It has already started,' she thought and looked up as creaking noise grew louder and the ceiling began to shake.

Debris began to fall from the weakened building and Nina dove to get out of the away, seeking shelter underneath a nearby collapsed door that was leaned up against a raised bit of ground. It wasn't long until the whole room caved in, sending heavy wooden beams racing down to the ground, kicking up the dust and making visibility impossible. Nina closed her eyes and covered her ears as she curled up into a ball to take up less room. However, the only thing that was keeping her out of the way soon failed as the door broke into half and the rubble piled on top of her.

Her screaming couldn't be heard as she was soon completely covered and the way that everything that was falling on top of her was only making things worse. The pain sent up her already injured leg and from a wooden beam was excruciating. This was worse than any knife and gunshot wound combined, never in her life had she felt so much pain.

Before too long, everything went silent. The shaking had stopped and there was absolutely no noise, with the exception of the thunder storm overhead and was now clearly visible due to ceiling had now collapsed. There was movement coming from near the doorway as Nina managed to dig herself out of the ruins, crawling weakly out but couldn't stand up as the pain in her legs and back was too much for even her to handle. Her outfit was completely torn and ripped, the only bits of fabric that were left was covering her breasts, right leg and her most private parts as well as her gloves, but the sleeves were completely ruined.

Looking around, she saw a red-dressed figure on the ground, lying face down with most of her clothing destroyed as well. From this distance, it had appeared that Anna was motionless, probably unconscious.

"Nina…" A weakened voice from nearby called for her.

Rolling onto her back, she saw that Edgar wasn't too far from where she was, his face just as bloodied as hers. But it wasn't until she could wipe the blood that came from the gash on her forehead from her eyes, that she was the lucky one despite her injuries. Edgar was worse of by far, having a thicker, larger and heavier beam across his chest and all he could do was groan in agony.

"You always seem to show up at the wrong time," she responded. "A very nasty habit of yours."

He laughed weakly and shut his eyes as the pressure from being pinned was crushing him.

"Please…put me out of…my…misery…" he pleaded.

Searching for something on the ground around her soon led her to feel a cold metal sensation that Nina was all too familiar with, it was the gun that she kicked out his hand and somehow it didn't get buried. Gripping it tightly, she held it up and aimed. Nina wanted him to die, but did she want to grant him a quick death? Or did she want him to suffer like she was at that current time. But her hesitation could mean that he could live if somebody came within the next couple of minutes. With no choice at all, she pulled the trigger and soon Edgar Grant left the world in silence as his head rolled to the side and a pool of his life's blood drained from his head from where the bullet entered. Nina knew that not even the likes of Edgar Grant could survive a bullet wound to the skull.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Nina laid back and looked up at the ceiling. Her sister was unconscious, an old traitor was dead and there she was in crippling pain and was the lucky one out of all this and she had hoped that Jin would pull through this and find her, before it was too late.

* * *

The two demon's locked hands, electricity surging between them as they increased the pressure. Devil Kazuya roared loudly and was then hurled through the air, crashing through the wall and into next door while his nemesis flew through and sat on top, but then was flipped over so that he was pinned.

"Don't think that was going to work with me, you insolent fool!"

Devil Jin struggled as he felt the clawed hands of his nemesis seize his throat and felt it constricting his airway shut. He grasped the wrists, trying to pry them off, but it was no use as the strength was too strong even for him and soon he felt himself going light headed.

'No! I'm not finished yet!'

A red energy built up in his eyes and suddenly Devil Kazuya felt his eyes widen and the grip he had loosened. And with one final roar, Devil Jin released the energy as a beam and it was aimed directly into Devil Kazuya's chest, exiting from the back of his right shoulder.

"Ugh!" The purple beast screamed as the agonising pain of the beam went straight through him and then ceased.

The purple demon soon was no longer there as he disappeared in a mist and the human form of Kazuya returned. No longer able to stay upright, he fell backwards with the smoke from the newly made hole creeping up into the atmosphere. Devil Jin felt his heart rate and breathing slow and when he looked down at his hands, the clawed fingers had disappeared, a sign that meant he was returning to human form. It was all over.

Soon after, the reversal was complete and now it was just Jin on the ground, staring up at the sky.

"I've finally learned to control it," he said to no one in particular. "I was able to separate myself and to return to my own consciousness."

He sat up and stared at his father, motionless on the ground.

'I'm sorry mother, but it had to be done.'

Slowly, he found the strength to stand up and look around. This room had completely caved in, possibly from the destruction that he and Kazuya had caused when they were in their Devil forms and this was the room that Nina and Anna…

'Nina!'

"Jin!"

He looked over his shoulder to a former doorway and saw the very person that he wanted to see at that very moment. Her face was covered in blood and stained her blonde hair, the purple outfit was completely ruined and there was a gun right next to her. As he walked over to her, Nina pointed to the lifeless man pinned underneath the large wooden beam and with a gunshot wound to the head.

Kneeling down beside her, he looked around behind her and saw Anna on the ground.

"I guess you won," he said to her. "I think that she's probably just unconscious." He looked at her. "Are you ok?"

Nina shook her head.

"I think I broke my leg and my back is killing me," she replied, hissing in pain. "I don't think I'll be able to walk."

At that, Nina pulled him into a tight hug and felt his arms wrap around her carefully, being careful not to hurt her.

"I'm glad that you're alive," he whispered. "Because I have something to tell you and this time I mean it for real."

They both pulled away and stared at each other, Nina with an raised eyebrow as she was confused.

"What is it?"

Just as Jin cleared his throat, preparing to say those words that he had longed to say, Nina's eyes widened in shock as a strange purple aura appeared from behind him, just like the one in her dream. The spirit had escaped Kazuya and was now looking at her and Jin was right in between, and if he got hit with it then the Devil will have full control of him. She wasn't about let it happen, and if that meant risking her life, so be it.

Nina was his bodyguard and she had swore to protect him from anything and everything that had posed a threat to him in anyway. It was time that she did her duty.

The spirit flew towards the two of them and Nina shoved Jin out of the way, sending him onto the ground beside her. She screamed, just like she did in her dream and felt it fusing with her entire being. Jin, who was absolutely horrified, couldn't do a thing as he was in fear to the point that his limbs couldn't register any movement. All he could do was watch as his bodyguard absorbed the Devil and when it was all over, her body went limp and a strange marking appeared on the inside of her forearm, like a tattoo.

"Nina!"

It was too late, the Devil was inside of her and he had to get her out of there. Hopefully there was one person back at the Zaibatsu that could explain what in the hell just happened. What did this all mean?

* * *

_April 8__th__ 2008_

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu Cold Sleep Research Facility #2_

_Time: 2134hrs_

The old man typed away on the computer while the young man next to him watched out of the glass window into the main lab area. Never had he thought that he would be witnessing this procedure. Dr. Boskonovitch ceased typing and looked over to Jin.

"We had managed to repair her injuries," he told him. "But I'm more worried about the spirit that has entered her body."

Jin stood up from leaning over the table with his palms down and looked at the scientist.

"What do you think has caused her unconsciousness?" Jin asked him, voice sounding dark. "And why are you resorting to cold sleep?"

The doctor sighed and looked out into the lab, to the metal slate that the unconscious Nina was been strapped to for the second life in her existence.

"Because I think her unconscious state had come from the Devil Gene entering her life-form, rendering her comatose," he explained. "But if we took on this research while she had the chance to wake up, then we don't know whether if she would wake up as a demon or as herself. So to minimise the risk, that is why we're placing her back into cryosleep."

That explanation made Jin understand, he didn't really want to see Nina as a Devil. It was the very thing that he had swore to destroy and now she was suffering from it.

"Will she lose her memories? Will she ever remember again?"

Boskonovitch shook his head.

"I hope not. I have the theory that her previous experience with memory loss was not caused by the cryogenic procedure itself, but also from Ogre's mind control," he replied. "Nina was released from cryosleep under Ogre's control and not of her own will, a fate of which her sister was spared because she avoided Ogre's mind-control." He looked back at Jin. "But I have inserted a device inside the tube to back-up her memories just in-case she ever lost them again and then if needed to, we just simply upload them into her brain."

Jin looked back out and felt his heart drop as he watched the slate enter the glass tube before the tube submerged into the freezing water and closed the tube. Nina Williams had entered cryosleep again and was about to lose more time of her life in order to save it.

* * *

A/N: Well that was the end of Part One of the story and now we enter Part Two with many questions to be answered: Did Kazuya and Anna survive? Where is Lars? Will Nina wake up or will the Devil take a hold over her? All these will be answered in the next part as we still have a long way to go until the end :)


	17. Frozen Devil

A/N: Time to kick off part two and so far this story is by far my most successful and I'm nowhere near done with it. To be quite honest I couldn't believe the response after I posted up the last chapter, overnight the visitor stats shot up within twelve hours. Thanks to the people that have stuck by this story and leaving reviews, it has been a joy to write for you all and I'm also writing another one-shot for this pairing at the moment so just keep an eye out for that. Anyway, enjoy this chapter as it introduces part two.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Frozen Devil**

_April 22__nd__ 2008 _

_Location: Unknown Realm_

_Time: Unknown_

_(Two weeks into cold sleep…)_

If there was such thing an eternal of nothingness, then Nina Williams would have found it. Standing there, confused and dazed as to why she was there, oblivious to the other world and was alone. The last thing she remembered was the Devil's spirit floating before her and entering her body like in her dream, just like a bad premonition that unfortunately for her came true and now she was stuck in that eternal darkness with nowhere to go.

The Devil…Kazuya's last remaining half of the Devil Gene that had cursed members of the Mishima bloodline, turning them into indestructible beings that could single handily bring the entire world onto its knees, begging for mercy. Again, that bastard Kazuya had interfered with her life and now she had that same Devil entity within her, stirring her own blood and it sickened her knowing that she now had a piece of the man that placed her into cryosleep and impregnated her against her will inside of her. Now her blood was dirty like his and...

'Jin,' she thought, floating there as if she was in the paradox between time and space, still in her torn clothing that she left the conscious world in.

Nina didn't know whether or not Jin made it out and she wondered if he was alright. She had saved him from the spirit and prevented Devil becoming one, just like before when he lived inside of Kazuya all those years ago. But by just thinking about this made her feel scared, fearing that she would never see Jin again, regretting that she couldn't tell him that she loved him…never hearing him saying it back, which Nina had figured that he was about to do until she fell unconscious.

Why couldn't she wake up? It didn't make any sense to her since she was lost to the world of the living and then she looked down upon her right forearm, gazing her wandering eyes over the black mark that the Devil left. It was just like the one on Jin's arm, only that it was smaller and it appeared to have two of them fused into one.

"So he's keeping me here," she said to herself, well that's all she could do since she was alone. "How do I get out of this place?"

"_There is no escape, you will never find your way back to the mortal world," _Devil responded, the voice chilling the blonde assassin to the bone. _"He too is suffering and I want to keep it that way."_

So he had been there the entire time and Nina knew nothing, and only now had he decided to make himself heard. There had to be a way out of this nightmare and now more than ever before, Nina wanted Jin to appear and hold her tight and never letting go.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 2309hrs_

This was a very regular sight to see when anyone stepped inside that darkened office, especially over the past couple of weeks. At first, Jin refused to leave the laboratory despite the pleas from both his men and Dr. Boskonovitch to get some rest and had remained there for three days without sleep. Eventually, he had to be dragged out and returned back to Gargoyle Tower, and since upon returning the only places he had been to was his office or his sleeping quarters in which he had succumbed to about three hours of sleep a night. Jin was already prepared to pick up any communication device that might sound, in particular a phone call that may inform him of Nina's condition.

'Nina,' he thought to himself, sitting in his chair and thinking the same thoughts that had been on his mind.

How come he didn't see this coming?

To tell the truth, no one could have predicted what could have happened. No one could say whether or not that the Devil was going to leave Kazuya and to enter the next living conscious body that neared it, and no one knew that Nina was going to push Jin out of the way and to absorb the power. Jin figured it out to be that Nina did it because she was his bodyguard and all she was doing was to protect him from any threat, even if it meant risking her own life. He knelt above her, about to say something that he had been meaning to and now that opportunity had been taken away from him.

Yes he did defeat Kazuya, but at what cost?

Nina had been in cold sleep for two weeks and no new discoveries had been made. Dr. Boskonovitch told him that it could take days, weeks, months and even years, but he also said that Nina may never waken depending whether or not she could break free of Devil's grasp. This in turn made Jin feel guilty, the curse of his family had been transferred into her and she was in that glass tube alone on that slate, naked and cold to touch, no longer part of the conscious world.

He wanted one more chance to hold her, to touch and run his hand along the bare smooth skin that had various battle-wound scars. But most of all, he wanted to say that he loved her.

'I should have said something before,' he thought, his heart heavy from regret and unfulfilled desires. 'Maybe then I wouldn't be feeling this way…'

Sighing and feeling like a prisoner of his own thoughts, Jin decided that he wanted to go to the only other room in the building that served him some sort of solitude. Getting up, he headed out his office and opened the door. To his greatest relief, the corridor that linked the office to his quarters down the other side was deserted, free to walk alone without anyone to disrupt his thoughts.

Jin began to remember the times that he and Nina walked down the very path that he was at the moment. Usually it would be late and they would be hand in hand, enjoying the company of one another and discussing both the plans for the Zaibatsu and the tournament. But it wasn't until they would enter his quarters that the two of them would stay up for another hour or two flirting and complimenting each other while on occasion drinking the scotch that Nina would sometimes bring up. Afterward Jin would lead her into his room and this had ended in two ways...The two of them would go straight to sleep or they would have sex, eventually falling asleep in each others arms and remain there until morning.

Finally, Jin made it to his quarters after what it seem to be eternity and shut the door behind him. Without a second thought, his legs automatically carried him to his room and fell forward onto the bed, covering both sides. On the side that he usually slept on, it was warm and well worn whilst the other side, the one that Nina would usually be on, felt cold and distant and this had chilled Jin to the bone. This was the last sensation that he felt before closing his eyes and to sleep.

* * *

_Jin's Dream…_

Jin opened his eyes and the first thing that he noticed was that he was surrounded by white. He felt as if he was floating, the sensation of weightlessness was felt throughout his body as he tried to find the ground, but it wasn't there.

'Where am I?' he thought. 'What is this place?'

Never in his dreams was he in a place like this as Jin's dreams usually were flashbacks of his life, terrifying nightmares triggered by his Devil Gene. But this was more terrifying than any nightmare, alone and nothing around him, a feeling of emptiness and abandonment. But soon enough, he heard a voice, one that sounded scared and desperate.

"Why are you keeping me here?" the female voice asked, demanding an answer. "I…I don't deserve it!"

It was hard to register the voice at first, but then after awhile the voice repeated throughout Jin's ears and his eyes widened…

"Nina!" He shouted, hoping for the voice to respond.

"Jin!" The voice spoke back. "Is that you?"

"Yes! I think I'm dreaming," he replied. "You're in a coma and put into cryosleep since Dr. Boskonovitch thinks you're dangerous to try and do research on."

His eyes scanned around, but the blonde woman was nowhere in sight even though her voice sounded like she wasn't far away.

* * *

_Unknown Realm_

She could hear him, but she could see him and this gave Nina some hope even though she didn't know where to go. But if she could hear his voice, did that mean that he was here with her too?

"Dangerous? Just because I have that damned curse in me…" she muttered under her breath. "…Damn you Kazuya."

Nina scanned around, hoping to find some sort of opening to guide her, a way out from this realm and back to the living world where she belonged. But there was nothing for her and all she was left to do was to listen out for the only voice that could free her.

"Nina, listen to my voice and let it guide you!" Jin called to her. "But there isn't much time before I have to wake up."

"But, I don't think I'll make it to you in time."

Silence…

"Jin…dammit, he's gone."

* * *

_Back to the Conscious World…_

His eyes snapped open and quickly his body bolted upright, his breath was heavy and he felt his heart pound against his chest, like a jackhammer beating furiously into the ground. With widened eyes, he looked around his room and knew that the only person that was there was him.

Slouching forward and resting his elbows onto his knees, Jin felt nothing but confusion as to how Nina was able to connect to him through his dreams when she was so distant from him, stuck in that glass tube in freezing water. She was lost to the conscious, living world and kept prisoner to whatever was keeping her from coming back, Jin couldn't comprehend what had happened. Whatever it was, he knew that this was the key to waking her and then to find out more as to what happened in the Honmaru, only Nina knew what exactly occurred.

Soon his thoughts turned to his father, the one that caused the blonde woman to be in the condition that she's in. Jin couldn't remember much about the fight since he was in his Devil form, but he did remember Kazuya with a newly burned hole in his shoulder and watching him fall to the ground. But the wound wasn't enough to kill him, but to cause his body to go into shock. The Tekken Force came shortly after to retrieve Jin and Nina, leaving Kazuya, Anna and the deceased Edgar Grant in the ruins.

There was no doubt in Jin's mind that both Kazuya and Anna would have got out alive, G-Corp soldiers would have gone in for them once they saw the Zaibatsu chopper leave. There had been rumours that Anna was recovering in a hospital from injuries inflicted from both the fight with Nina and the cave in of the ceiling, but as for Kazuya there were no reports of him returning to Millennium Tower. Chances were that he went into hiding, now feeling powerless without that Devil entity within him, which was a good thing in a way but a bad thing in another as it had caused someone that meant a great deal to Jin to fall into a coma.

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Jin reached over to his phone that rested on the wooden bedside table and dialed the number for the laboratory.

"Inform Dr. Boskonovitch that I'm coming in," Jin said. "I have some important information for him."

"…_Right away boss, I will go see him now." _

The line cut out and Jin slowly lowered the phone, staring out to empty space. In all that has happened, he had forgotten about one person that might be curious about whether or not his mother did survive. Just a few days after Nina was placed into cold sleep, Steve woke from his coma and asked to see his mother. Unfortunately, he was met with Jin instead who then told him of what happened in the Honmaru ruins and that Nina was placed into cold sleep for further research.

_Flashback…_

"_Where is she?" Steve asked, his voice demanding. _

_Jin sighed, shaking his head as he sat at the young man's side. _

"_I'm sorry, but she had to be placed back into cryosleep," the raven-haired man replied. "Dr. Boskonovitch is doing everything he can to bring her back." _

_The blond man's jaw tightened, the thought of his mother in that cold tomb shook him to the core and at the same time frightened him. _

"_Promise me the next time that you see her, take me with you," Steve told him evenly. "I will not be confined to some damned hospital bed while my mother is fighting to stay alive." _

And Jin was going to keep that promise, while at the same time to bring the blonde woman back to consciousness. If he couldn't stay in his dreams long enough while sleeping normally, then there was only one way in which he could stay asleep long enough…

Soon there would be two frozen Devil's.

* * *

_April 23__rd__ 2008_

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu Cold Sleep Research Facility #2_

_Time: 0202hrs_

The usually busy place was empty, now the only sounds were from the monitors connected to the woman in the frozen pool in the main lab area. The elderly doctor stood there and watched the two young men approach, one of them in a wheelchair. Jin went to the hospital and told Steve of what he was going to do, about putting himself into cryosleep and try to reconnect to Nina just he did in his dream.

"Mr. Kazama, you should be resting," Boskonovitch told the raven-haired man, who stopped nearby with the handles of the wheelchair in his hands. "We're doing everything we can to…"

Jin shook his head.

"I have talked to her in my dreams," he interrupted, making the scientist's eyes widen. "I think I can get her out of whatever is keeping her unconscious."

"But no one can stay asleep for that long, it's impossible unless you're…" Then it clicked in his mind. "You want to be placed into cold sleep?"

The younger man nodded. In his mind it was the only way to save Nina.

"Please, you only need to keep me asleep for a few hours to a day," he explained. "This maybe the best chance that we have…"

"Come on it's worth the shot, isn't it?" Steve added, the other two men looked at him. "Maybe if Jin brought her back himself, then nothing bad would happen compared to if she tried to wake up herself."

Sighing and rubbing at his temples, Boskonovitch eventually nodded slowly. This hadn't occurred to him, about the connection that the two halves of the Devil Gene might have even when one was dormant. But this could be the best shot that they had.

"Alright then, there's a spare tube next to hers and I should have it ready in five to ten minutes," the doctor explained. "In the meanwhile, go and prepare as I'm giving you twenty-two hours to attempt this."

Twenty-two hours…it may seem like a long time as it was almost a day. However, a day can go by quickly and there was no time to waste because where Jin was going can seem like that only ten hours have passed. He knew what he had to, but the result depended on whether Nina could find her way back by using his voice only and to break free from the Devil's hold.

"Fine, do whatever you need to do," Jin replied. "Just be quick."

Soon enough, Jin was on that metal slate, only dressed in his black boxers and ready to enter the freezing water. Boskonovitch had just adjusted the final strap on Jin's wrist, securing the young man to the metal and then he looked down at him.

"You're secured to the slate," the doctor told him. "You will feel a cold sensation go through your body and you'll find yourself struggling to breathe. But, the body will relax after a while and eventually you will be asleep."

The raven-haired nodded, but he didn't care about the shock that his body was going to be put under. No, all he cared about was to bring the assassin back to him no matter the cost.

The elderly doctor climbed down the steps and went over to the control panel, standing next to the blond man that watched the man that was going to save his mother being strapped down.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Boskonovitch said to him, activating levers and buttons that moved the slate over the water and started to make its descent into the blue depth.

"I think we can trust him with this," Steve replied. "Or otherwise he wouldn't be doing this."

Meanwhile, Jin felt his entire body freeze and he managed to get one last inhale of breath before being completely submerged. All he could see was the surface disappearing as the slate moved into the glass tube below, the lid slid shut and locked him in. His eyelids felt heavy and quickly he glanced beside him, to the metal encased tube that contained the blonde woman and soon his tube closed up completely as metal plates slid up and blocked his view. And within seconds, Jin's world went black as he went into deep sleep.

* * *

A/N: Just like most introductory chapters, this one was made a bit shorter. But the next chapter will be quite different to other one's that I have written in the past, and you all have to wait until the next chapter to find out :)


	18. Near Death Experience

A/N: Wow, the response from my previous two chapters in terms of people viewing have been really good and the chapter "Premonition" had set a new record in regards to how many people read the story in a day and the amount of people that have added this to their favourites, making this my most successful fic ever. Thanks guys it's really appreciated. Anyway, as I said in the last chapter this chapter will be written slightly differently. Midway I will do two point of views (P.O.V) in first person narration. So just to clarify, this chapter will start out normal and then halfway will show Jin and Nina's P.O.V in first person before returning back to third person. Just thought I would try it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Near Death Experience**

_April 23__rd__ 2008_

_Location: Unknown Realm_

_Time: Unknown_

_(Eleven hours remain…)_

"Nina!" Jin shouted. "Can you still hear me?"

Things were going well up until a while ago. Within moments on entering the realm again, Jin had managed to communicate with Nina and it was up to him to take out the painstaking task to get her to come to him. But he hadn't heard from her for a little while ago, when an evil laugh echoed through his ears. Devil was making things harder than what they already were, especially when he was rapidly running out of time as he started to feel his presence in this place disappearing.

But it was up to Nina to block out the evil presence and to find Jin's voice.

"Dammit, go away!" He shouted to Devil.

"_There is no escape, it is pointless to try," Devil sneered. "Give up, she's stuck here for eternity." _

"_Jin…I don't…I…th…I don't think I'll be able to hold on much longer!" Nina's voice spoke. _

"Just fight him, you're getting closer!" Jin replied. "Keep moving, we're running out of time!"

"_Insolent fool, there's nothing but false hope…" _

Jin wasn't prepared to give up. To him, the Devil in this case was nothing but a figment of his imagination and he intended for it to stay that way. But as for the woman that he was trying to save from this predicament, it was exactly what she needed to do and in such a short period of time. Devil was trying to take over her body completely, causing Nina to remain comatose and if he managed to achieve that, then Jin's fears would come true and Nina would be forever doomed to never waking up.

But it was a brave attempt to bring her back, and in such little time.

* * *

_Meanwhile back in the laboratory…_

Machines beeped, monitoring the life of the two people stuck inside the two tubes immersed in water with temperatures below zero. It was a haunting sight for Steve, who sat in his wheelchair, watching with anticipation as he awaited any sign of which may indicate the moment that Jin or Nina would reach consciousness. However, there were only eleven hours left and the boxer's hopes were beginning to slowly fade as every minute passed.

As he leaned back, the pain from his injuries caused him to groan, Steve felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Snapping his head up, he saw Boskonovitch giving a small reassuring smile, as if he was silently telling him that everything was going to be alright.

"You should go and get some rest," he told the young man. "I'll send someone to get you when I find out anything."

Shaking his head, Steve looked back to the pool of water, his brows furrowed slightly. Sure he had been without sleep for the majority of the day, especially since his doctors had told him to rest. But how could he rest while his thoughts were still with the two people in cold sleep. Trapped inside like a couple of prisoners and with no escape until somebody releases them.

"I'm fine, probably wouldn't get to sleep anyway," Steve replied. "Just that…there's too much to think about."

Boskonovitch nodded and released his gentle grip.

"I understand, you want to keep a positive outlook. But you have to think about the other side of the continuum as well."

He didn't want to think about it, the possibility of never seeing his mother again. Steve had lost her once and he wasn't prepared to lose her a second time.

* * *

_After the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3…_

_She had no choice but to go through with this. Anna had found her in the forest nearby the temple where Ogre was, evidently bruised and beaten from her fight with Jin Kazama. Nina just sat there, her eyes wide and she had no idea where she was and how she got to that place. All she remembered was that voice filled her head with commands to kill, to stain her already cursed hands with the blood of the innocent. However, her latest target stopped her and she was knocked unconscious. _

_But even though Ogre's influence had released itself from Nina's mind, she was left feeling confused, scared and alone as she still had no memory of her past before waking up in that tube. As for Anna, she kept claiming to the blonde assassin that she was her sister and that she should trust her, but there was something in the back of her mind that made her feel a little bit of hostility towards this woman who she couldn't remember. _

_Afterwards, the two went back to the cold sleep laboratory where they were housed and Anna had pleaded with Dr. Boskonovitch to try and find a way to restore Nina's memories. He agreed and placed Nina in a medically induced coma inside a hollow tube in nothing but her grey underwear, just like the one that she was housed in months ago, and this was where she was now. Scans were taken up and down her body and two electrodes connected to her temples to measure brain activity. _

_In the next room, Anna watched on through the one way mirror. Despite what happened in their past, she actually felt sorry that her sister had to go through this, that it was she who had put Nina in this position in the first place. But Anna had no choice, did she? If she had allowed Nina to pull the trigger, then Kazuya would had died and she would have been left a failure. _

_A beep from the computer made the brunette turn around, the process was done._

_An hour later, Nina was brought out of the coma and woke up. Boskonovitch stood by her side and gave her a grim look. _

"_What is it?" she asked. "Are my memories back?" _

_He shook his head, he was unable to restore the lost memories._

"_I'm sorry, but your memories died with Ogre." _

* * *

_Present Day…_

Why was Devil doing this to her? Going through her mind and making her have flashbacks, she should be focusing on the voice that was her only guide out of that god-forsaken place. No, she can't give up and not when his voice seemed so much closer than what it did a while ago.

"_Nina! We don't have much time left, talk to me!" Jin called out._

She can't let Devil get the better of her, she just couldn't. Nina knew that she had to fight and to keep him at bay until she was out.

"_No! There's no escape!" _

Clenching her teeth, Nina broke into a sprint in the direction in which she heard Jin's voice. She too felt that time was running out, even though she had no idea of what time or day it was, or how long she had been in that place.

'_It's useless to resist…'_

'Fuck off, get out of my head!' Nina screamed in her mind.

'_Haha…Fool, your life won't be worth living out there.'_

Nina didn't believe it as there was life for her outside of this world. She wanted to see her son, to see if he managed to pull through and is alright. But most of all, she wanted to see Jin, to have him wrap his strong arms around her and never letting go until he goes to face Azazel.

'It's better than being stuck here with you.'

* * *

_Jin's P.O.V _

_(Two minutes left…)_

"Jin! Where are you?"

I can hear you, but I still can't see you. Your voice had given me the direction, but you still feel so distant and I feel myself struggling to hold on, meaning that there's not much time left. Damn you Devil, why didn't you spare her? Why couldn't you just stay in my father's body until I came for it? But now because of you, Nina is trying to find her way back. Her voice had become so much clearer to me, his had become weaker meaning that Nina's fighting him away and following my voice. However, despite this I don't think she'll make it on her own.

I guess I'll have to meet her halfway.

"Nina! I know where you are, I'm coming towards you!"

After saying that, my legs started to move themselves as I broke out into a sprint. The blood pumped, pulsing throughout my body carrying the vital oxygen that my muscles needed as they strain and contract with every movement, with every step that my legs made. By doing this, I would risk distancing myself away even further but what other choice was there? I had to do something, anything to gain some ground and meet her halfway.

It was harder to run in that place than what it was in reality, mostly because in reality it was easier to judge distance while in this place it was a lot harder as there was nothing to look at except for eternity. Soon, I felt my breath grow heavy and found myself trying to suck as much air in as my body allowed me to. My legs felt heavy and I felt light-headed as my entire being began to feel itself prying away from this world. Soon I began to lose hope, that my attempt had failed.

I'm sorry Nina, but I couldn't hold out long enough and I just wanted you to know that…Huh? Where's that noise coming from?

'Footsteps…' I thought and then my eyes widened. 'Nina!"

"Nina! I think I can hear your footsteps!"

With that, I began to sprint even harder as my hope was renewed.

* * *

_Nina's P.O.V._

_(One minute remaining…)_

"I think I can hear you coming!" I yelled out to him.

There was a white light at the end of the tunnel and that's where I was headed. Literally, there was a white light and there was a shadow that grew closer and closer with every painstaking step that my feet made with the ground, my heart pounded against my chest as if it was searching for a way out like I was then. My legs ached as I had been running for quite sometime and the muscles felt like that they were trying to tear away from the confines that my skin made. Hmph, it's hard to tell how long for since this damned place had no day or night so you couldn't tell what time or day it was, this place was nothing but a fucking death-trap with some Devil telling you that it was pointless to try to leave.

Well I've proved that bastard wrong, there was an escape and it was growing closer and closer. Jin had told me that there was very little time left and he was coming to meet me, I've been running non-stop and my legs felt heavy with build up of lactic acid in my straining muscles. My breathing started to feel desperate for air and I had to force as much of it in as I could before I could take off for one last sprint.

'I'm coming Jin, just keep running towards me.'

That was my last thought before I took off in one last final push.

* * *

_(Thirty Seconds Remain…) _

He really was pushing it now, a flash of purple came from the darkness on the other side and the footsteps grew louder. It was just like a scene out of a typical love story, with the two main protagonists running towards each other in a field of flowers. But it wasn't exactly the case, the love was there but there was no flower field or a moment of happiness. Instead, there was a world of nothingness and one person was running toward the other to save her.

Supposedly, an individual could call it a tragic love story if they could call it that. But at this point in time, it was a struggle to overcome the Devil and to save a soul from an eternity of being stuck in that hell.

"_Fools! You'll never make it!" _Devil shouted. But Jin and Nina ignored it and kept their focus on each other, now only a few hundred metres apart.

'Come on, you can make it,' Jin thought. 'Don't stop on me now.'

On the other side, Nina watched as Jin grew closer to her. Now she was really struggling to keep moving, but seeing him just gave her that much more reason to keep going.

'I'm almost there…don't give up!' Nina screamed in her mind, feeling the muscles in her legs starting to tear.

_10…_

Ten seconds to cover approximately just under one hundred metres and both Jin and Nina felt themselves pick up speed.

_9…_

Nine seconds and both were beginning to strain with every heavy step, no longer able to feel the bottoms of their feet as they became numb.

_8…_

Eight seconds and Devil's taunts grew weaker.

_7…_

Jin's Devil side kicked in and gave him extra energy, increasing his speed and gave him the last bit of endurance that he needed.

_6…_

The mark on Nina's forearm glowed and then felt herself moving faster. She knew that Jin would have had something to do with this.

_5…_

Less than thirty metres to go and the two of them were nearing each other at increasing speed despite their fatigued bodies.

_4…_

Jin felt himself prying away from this world. Meaning that on the other side he was waking up.

_3…_

Nina felt Jin starting to leave, but they were so close.

_2…_

Less than ten metres left and everything felt itself slowing down as the point that light and dark, white and black met was extremely close.

_1…_

Their hands were outstretched and made contact. Jin gripped onto Nina's right forearm and pulled her in, holding her close as a white light engulfed the two of them…

* * *

_April 24__th__ 2008_

_Location: Cold Sleep Research Facility #2_

_Time: 0011hrs_

Steve sat forward in his chair as he watched the tube containing Jin emerge from the cold depths. Boskonovitch operated the controls and soon enough the monitors showed stronger readings as Jin began to stir as the elevation soon came to rest. As quickly as he could, the doctor raced up to the platform over the pool edge and looked down at the young man, who slowly opened his eyes and took his first inhale of breath, as if he was reborn.

Looking around, Jin saw that he was back in the laboratory and then turned his attention to the elderly doctor.

"I got her," Jin spoke as Boskonovitch started to undo the restraints on Jin's wrist. "Where is she?"

"Doctor! Her readings are growing stronger!" Steve yelled out. "I think she's trying to wake up!"

Boskonovitch rushed back down, leaving Jin to undo the restraints on his ankles, struggling as his hands shook since his body was still frozen. It was a horrible place, that realm of the unknown and he never wanted to go back there again. But, he had been successful and found her and it was only a matter of seconds to see whether or not that Nina wakes up to be herself or the thing that she had been trying to fight.

Getting out, he stood on the platform and watched as the metal that covered Nina's tube disappear, revealing her bare form inside the glass and ascending out of the water. Her hair was loose and waved gracefully inside the water, her face looked as if she was at peace. Soon, the entire pod emerge from the freezing water and opened, causing Jin to move automatically down to where the pod rested. Sapphire blue eyes snapped open and a heavy inhale of breath as easy heard.

"What the…Jin, where are you?" Nina called out for him in a panic.

She had been stuck in that place for weeks and returning to the real world was nothing but a shock to her. It wasn't like the last time that she woke up from cold sleep, no memories and acting robotically under Ogre's control. No, Nina still had her memories and was in control of herself with the exception of the Devil in her.

Jin quickly knelt down undid her restraints as fast as he could since his body was still wet and cold and the cool air made the two of them shiver. He gazed back down at her face, her eyes held fear and shock which was expected of anyone that woke up from cold sleep after being it there for so long. She sat up slowly and looked down at her bare body, only faint lines remained from her injuries and then down at her forearm, to the mark of the Devil that she was now cursed with.

Gently, he got inside the pod too and held a hand out to the mark, grazing the area of skin that was marked like a tattoo, the kind of tattoo that he had hoped to never see on someone else. Nina looked at him while he did this, her lips were slightly parted and he met her eyes with a gentle gaze, noticing that hers had watered over a little and quickly he pulled her freezing form into his arms, being careful as not to break her as if she was fragile and made out of glass. She buried her face into his shoulder and held onto the solid muscles of his shoulders, gripping onto him tightly and she didn't want to let go.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Quarters_

_Time: 1854hrs_

Nina smiled weakly at her son, who sat in his wheelchair at her bedside and looked as if somebody died. She couldn't understand why though, she was still alive and was making a full recovery. The three of them arrived at headquarters a few hours ago and Jin escorted both Steve and Nina to his quarters, ordering Nina to shower and to get into bed to rest. The assassin laughed at this, she had slept enough over the past few weeks to last her for a year at least, but Steve insisted that she should follow Jin's advice and at least put her feet up.

"You know, my idea of relaxing is to have a nice drink of scotch at a quiet bar," Nina told her son.

"But the last time you were in a bar a riot broke out just because Paul couldn't handle losing to a woman," Steve replied evenly. "I don't think you or Jin for that matter would be welcome in any bar in Japan at the moment since they blamed him for what happened."

The blonde woman chuckled a little.

"Well let me tell you this, Paul Phoenix is the kind of guy that will never accept defeat regardless of who it is," she explained. "I mean like, he had a grudge against some bear that defeated him, and why did he lose? Because he gets too cocky and loses focus."

"Well…that's true and he actually admitted that he acted cocky in the bar that night after he lost against Kazuya with a bullet wound in his thigh and foot, which was quite strange."

Nina smirked, not only she was able to sink a couple of bullets into that cocky son of a bitch, but she was also able to get him to admit that it was attitude that made him lose their fight in the bar. It wasn't the victory that Nina had envisioned, but it was good enough. Steve saw her smirk and felt his jaw drop.

"It was you? You're the one that shot him?" Steve asked, confused as to why she did it. "But why would you allow that bastard Kazuya to win?"

Laughing lightly, Nina couldn't understand why she did it either but it was her job after all. It was a direct order from her boss and she had no choice but to carry it out.

"I was ordered by Jin throughout the tournament to make sure that his father would make it to the final match," she explained. "And during that match, Paul was about to win so I had no choice but to shoot him and give Kazuya the advantage."

"So the tournament was announced so that Jin could face his father?"

Nina nodded.

"Yes, but that's all you need to know," she answered, and then told him with a tone with absolute caution. "I've already told you enough, so don't go around and tell everyone. Because if G-Corporation find out anything then they'll use it against us."

Steve nodded, he understood that it was a dangerous time and the war could flare up at anytime. So the last thing that everyone needed was more lives being placed at risk when so many have been lost already. The way that Steve saw everything, everyone that he knew that had been involved had almost been killed. Jin had been shot but this Devil side took over and saved him, Nina would have died if Jin didn't bring her back, him and his friends would have died that day in the Millennium Tower at the hands of Anna.

"I'm glad that you didn't kill your sister," Steve said after a moment of silence and then smirked. "Or otherwise she wouldn't be suffering in the hospital room opposite to where I was."

Nina smiled. After the battle, Anna was brought to the same hospital that Steve was in with a broken leg, arm and concussion with some mild bruising. At least Anna didn't walk out of there while Nina had no idea of how she left that place.

"Well then, I guess we won't be seeing her for a while," she told him and looked over to the doorway.

Jin had been standing at the doorway, watching on as mother and son conversed. He only just arrived there and Nina smiled at him weakly, motioning him in. It was good to see her there again, but not in the way that he thought. But still, it was a second chance and they were going to use it to their advantage. To rid themselves of the Devil Gene and to carry out the final part of Jin's plan.

"I see that you're still awake," Jin observed and looked at Steve. "There's food outside, go and help yourself while I speak to your mother alone. We'll be out in a moment."

The British man looked at Nina and gave a small nod before he wheeled himself out and the door closed with a soft click as Jin locked it and then turned his gaze back to the woman, down to her arm. He never meant for any of this to happen, to have Nina cursed and fused with his father's Devil. He wondered what she was feeling right now, scared and confused was his first thought but then just seeing her with Steve, smiling and laughing just made him think that everything was going to be fine.

"How are you doing?" He asked her.

"I guess I've seen better days," she replied with a small sigh. "But I'm alright, I just have to learn to control this thing that's inside of me."

He walked over and sat down beside her, staring across to the wall on the other side. It was awkward, neither of them not knowing what to say to one another. They didn't want to talk about that world that they were just in, it was too terrifying to speak of in their opinion as they nearly lost each other. But the silence after a few minutes was broken, to a topic that Jin had to set his sights on.

"I heard him," Nina told him and he looked over with a raised eyebrow. "Azazel spoke to me."

Now that Devil was within her, Nina could hear the very thing that had been speaking to Jin all this time. Azazel was the first voice that she had heard and told her everything, and now that Jin and Kazuya had clashed, his powers have become strong and he awaits Jin's arrival.

"His voice was first one that I heard after I went unconscious when Devil entered me," she continued. "And now that you and your father have now clashed, Azazel is near full strength. It's almost time."

There was something in Nina's voice at that time that Jin could easily pick up on. It was regret, Nina was showing regret for something and he didn't know what it was. Did she regret becoming his bodyguard? Or was she regretting ever sleeping with him? Whatever it was, this was the time to find out or risk losing that chance again.

He was about to say something, but she bet him to it.

"What were you going to say to me in the Honmaru?" she asked him slowly.

He swallowed nervously, trying to find his words as he only had one chance to get this right. Getting up onto his knees, Jin gazed deeply into her eyes and sighed.

"I've…I mean we both said something a while ago that I'm not sure that we meant it, but now…" he swallowed again and went on. "I never thought that I could love someone else since my mother's death but over the past few months you've proven me wrong."

"Jin, I…"

"When I saw you walk down those stairs on the first day, in that tiny bathroom on the plane," Jin continued. "I was instantly captivated by you and I wasn't sure up until now, until I almost lost you. Nina, I love you...I'm in love with you."

And there it was, Jin didn't admit that he had fallen for her or that he said the words after a session of love-making but he admitted that he was actually in love with her. Nina, who had clung onto every single word that came out of his mouth then, felt an overwhelming sense of relief as she too had a confession to make.

"Jin, I've never known how to feel love for men other than my father," Nina remarked. "But since that day in the plane, since you first held me I knew that I could trust you."

She gasped his hand and held it lightly.

"I don't know why I said it either, I thought it was out of lust after that first time and it was a customary thing to say," she continued. "But as time went on, that trust turned itself into love, something that I haven't felt for a really long time. Jin, I love you and this time I mean it for real."

Jin felt his stomach churn. Nina wasn't sure on her feelings either until now and all it took was a near-death experience to get everything out into the open. But with that said and done, what was there left to say?

Cupping her cheek with one hand, Jin leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers gently, moving slowly as she began to respond back and wrapped her arms around his neck while he moved his down to her waist. Her lips felt soft, and cold but it was better than not to have them there at all. Shortly, they stopped and gave a small smile before Nina spoke.

"We better and go out and make sure there's some food left, I haven't eaten for three weeks."

Jin got off the bed and grabbed her black silk robe, helping her to slip it on and she tied it up. He offered out his arm like a gentleman, in which she accepted and the two of them shared a smile before heading out of the room.

* * *

A/N: Just for the record, that was my first ever attempt of writing something in the first person, but there shouldn't be anything like that in the future chapters, just exclusive to this one only. Ok, I'm off to write the next chapter and soon there will be another S.C cutscene within the next few chapters. Keep those reviews coming :)


	19. An Ominous Legend

A/N: Ok, I have finally got myself a PS3 and played Tekken 6, completing Scenario Campaign and starting to work my way through arena mode and I have to say that Azazel is one tough boss compared to the ones in previous games. So far I've only completed arena mode with four characters and I'm still going. Anyway, this chapter will be slightly shorter than my last few but that's because I will be focusing on a certain cutscene in SC, plus a new relationship that I've included in the story. So if you like EddyxChristie, don't murder me yet as there might be a surprise installed for later on down the track :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: An Ominous Legend **

_May 5__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Training Room_

_Time: 1023hrs_

The stench of sweat mixed with the scented body wash that the woman used would instantly hit anyone that decided to walk into the small room. The reason why it was so small was because whenever Jin used the punching bags he would burst at least a dozen with his sharply honed kick, so now there had to be funding to replace the bags and the only place to put them was around the room, limiting the amount of space to work with.

Wearing only a black crop-top and light grey sweatpants, Nina had spent the past hour in there training despite the doctor telling her to take it easy until her injuries had healed. But to tell the truth sitting around was going to do nothing but drive her insane and since Jin had told her to take a break from board meetings and anything related to the Zaibatsu, there wasn't anything else to do. Besides, her recovery since coming out of that coma was nothing but quick as she no longer needed the support of anyone or anything to walk around and somehow Nina knew that Devil had healed her injuries.

Well, that had to be true or otherwise Jin wouldn't be alive considering the amount of times he's been shot and come back to life or Kazuya and escaping death after Heihachi threw him into that volcano a couple of decades ago. In her opinion, it was the only positive thing about the Devil Gene, to be resurrected and to have the ability to heal one's body from affliction and injury.

Then there's the other side of it…

Gritting her teeth, Nina threw out a left low kick and then quickly snapped up a high right, splitting the bag and allowed its contents to spill out onto the wooden floor in the brightly lit room. As she watched the bag in front of her, the contents of it flowing out like blood from a wounded person, Nina couldn't help but to look down at the newly formed mark on her arm. She was cursed like Jin and exposed to the things that had been talking to him in his mind, in his dreams, like the conscience that tells a person to inflict hurt upon the world while the other side tells them not to. The assassin laughed at this thought, thinking it was like she was both an angel and a devil rolled into one. However, Nina knew that she was no angel because of the path that he had chosen, killing both the innocent and the guilty for money, the work of the devil in some people's opinion. But now she had this curse within her, she was only heading even further into that darkness and to some extent it had scared her.

'Anyone would be scared if they had something like this,' she thought and looked to the ground. 'I'm sure that Jin was petrified when he first discovered about the curse.'

"Miss Williams…"

Nina glanced over her shoulder, to the doorway where a soldier stood there saluting at her.

"Yes, what is it?'

"Steve Fox has requested to see you," the soldier replied. "He said that it was urgent, what shall I do?"

"Take him to my quarters and I'll be up there in a moment," Nina replied, turning around fully. "Once you're done, inform the boss that I want to see him after his meeting on an important matter."

The soldier lowered his hand and nodded.

"Yes ma'am, right away."

Quickly the soldier left and Nina walked over to the bench nearby and picked up her towel, drying off her sweat covered body before making her way out.

Shortly after, Nina made it up to her living quarters uninterrupted to see her son sitting down and going through her small collection of weapons magazines. She closed the door behind her with a small click, making the young man look up and placing the magazine back down onto the glass coffee table. When Steve noticed that her body was still slightly dampened from sweat, he couldn't help but to create an alarm of concern.

"I thought you were told to take it easy," he scolded.

Nina laughed and threw the white towel onto a nearby table and leaned up against it.

"I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with some light exercise," she replied before getting to the point. "So what's going on?"

Steve got up and wandered over to her with the help of a wooden cane, stopping a couple of metres in front of her.

"I'm flying out to Brazil today," he explained. "Christie doesn't want to be alone and I offered to go and be with her for a while last night…"

* * *

_The night before…_

_They didn't expect this to happen, but she didn't want to be alone and he was there to comfort her. While their bodies were entwined in the sheets and with each other, the blond man held the young woman in his arm while she rested her head onto his chest, their bodies covered in sweat as they came down from a high. _

"_Christie…" Steve started, breaking the silence. "What brought this on all the sudden?"_

_Christie sighed softly, as his hand ran up and down the slenderness of her waist. She had just learned of her grandfather returning to Brazil to a medical centre and Eddy had disappeared from the face of the Earth. A mix of emotions fuelled her body, anger at her master for disappearing again and also she missed him. So she went straight to the one person that she found herself becoming attracted to over the past while and confided in him. They talked for a while before she broke down into tears and Steve, who was fighting his attraction to his stunning woman and wanted to ease her pain, kissed her and it was that kiss that got them to the point that they were at. _

"_I…I just don't want to be alone at the moment," she replied. "But I guess I'll be going back home alone…" _

"_You don't have to," Steve cut in. "I'll come and stay with you for a little while, I don't have anything going on for me at the moment." _

_Her eyes lit up and Christie looked up at him, with him brushing the hair off her face. _

"_Are you sure? You've only just recovered from your injuries." _

_He eased her head back down onto his chest and closed his eyes. _

"_Yeah, I'm sure. There's nothing left for me to do here anyway and I should be fine without that damned wheelchair." _

_She smiled slightly._

"_Thank you…" _

* * *

_Present Day…_

"So you slept with her?" Nina asked. "I thought she and Eddy had something going on."

Steve shook his head.

"Not really. Sure she was attracted to him and he was attracted to her," he answered. "But she couldn't see them having a stable relationship because he keeps on disappearing all the time."

The blonde woman nodded and reached out to his arm.

"Well then, make sure you look after yourself," she said, smiling at her son. "I'm sure we'll cross paths again eventually."

He nodded and reached up for her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"I know we will, just don't go and get yourself killed."

Nina released her grip and dropped her arm, stepping aside to let him walk past. Once he was out the door, Jin appeared and closed the door again, crossing his arms and looked directly at her.

"I guess that Steve's leaving?"

Nina nodded and walked over to sit down, crossing her legs underneath her.

"Yes, he's going to Brazil with Christie now that there's nothing left for the both of them here," she replied. "Can't say that I blame her, now that Eddy's pulled a disappearing act there's no reason for her stay."

Jin wandered over and sat in the chair on the opposite side.

"What is it that you wanted to see me about?"

Since returning, Nina had been experiencing dreams where Azazel would speak to her, telling her that the war and now that Jin and Kazuya had faced each other he would gain physical form. At the beginning she thought it was a once off thing but instead they were happening more frequently and causing her to wake up most nights in a sweat. She only told Jin about Azazel once before and that was just after she returned, but there was something that she wanted to know.

"Do you remember when I told you about Azazel talking to me in that realm?" Jin nodded, not expecting her to bring up that place again. "Well, he's still talking to me in my dreams."

Sighing, Jin leaned forward and rested his forearms onto his knees, staring down at the ground. Azazel had also told him that he was starting to become a physical being rather than a spirit, but it was a slow process that could take time, time that Jin couldn't wait for as now there was someone else that shared the curse that shouldn't have had it in the first place.

"I don't think we can speed up the process," Jin told her and then looked at her directly. "But I want to try something."

He stood up and pulled out his phone.

"Have the chopper ready and inform the pilot at the airport to have the jet ready to leave for Egypt in about fifteen minutes time," Jin commanded.

"_Yes Mr. Kazama, I'll radio him now." _

Nina raised an eyebrow, confused as to what Jin was planning to do next.

"What's going on?" she asked him as he walked over to the door.

Jin stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"We're going to take a little trip," he replied. "I want to show you something. So go and get changed and meet me up at the helipad."

The assassin was about to ask another question before he opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind him. Nina had no idea as to why they were going to Egypt, but she knew that she could trust him with whatever he had planned.

* * *

_May 6__th__ 2008_

_Location: Azazel's Temple- Outside_

_Time: 1645hrs_

The helicopter took off towards the burning Egyptian sun, making the black leather jacket that Nina wore almost unbearable to wear as she began to feel the heat. But this tiny nation was one of her least favourite places to go because of the climate, however she did enjoy the various manmade marvels that made this place famous. As she and Jin made their way up those thousand year old stone steps, Nina couldn't help but to be amazed by the tall columns that stood up on either side, leading the way towards the massive temple in front of them.

She found herself experiencing a strange aura from that place, stirring the Devil that was inside of her, but not enough to make her lose control. No, it was like Azazel was trying to speak to her as if he could feel her and Jin's presence.

'_I see that you've arrived,' _Azazel spoke in both Jin and Nina's minds. _'But I'm still a spirit…'_

'We're not here to fight you,' Nina replied back. 'It's not that time yet.'

'…_I see, so why are you here?'_

Neither of them answered back, Jin got the answer that he needed, about connection that his bodyguard now shared with that beast. But before he could say something to her, a person that stood in the middle of the path made the two of them stop walking.

The woman was a mysterious one, both of whom Jin and Nina saw fighting in the tournament and had withdrawn herself for unknown reasons. Her dark hair contrasted well with her skin, those eyes darkened by the black eyeliner that she wore and she was dressed in ancient clothing and jewellery, like an exotic goddess that might have lived during the time of Egyptian rule. Nina narrowed her eyes at the woman and took a step forward.

"Who are you?" she asked in a forceful, demanding manner.

"II have no business with you," the woman replied, snapping her head at the assassin and then turned her attention to Jin.

The two of them looked at one another for a moment. Jin could defiantly recognise this woman, he had heard about her. From what he could gather her name was Zafina, a woman who had claimed to be a descendent of the people that had built these ruins and he had heard that she was just another person that opposed him and everything that he was doing.

Well, that wasn't going to happen very easy…

"Jin Kazama! You have been warned. Stop your warring before it is too late!" Zafina warned him.

Jin scoffed a little and shook his head.

"I don't have time for this," he replied.

Zafina gazed at him harder, almost to the point of showing urgency. Nina laughed a little in her head when she watched this woman. Usually people who wanted Jin to stop would try to kill him, hence the reason for the multiple contacts carried out against him, but there was something different about Zafina. She was pleading with him to put an end to the war, but Nina thought it was too late considering that Azazel was well on his way to be resurrected.

"Six months have passed since the magic that binds this place was broken," Zafina explained carefully. "And now the events are unfolding just as the legend foretold. This place is headed for destruction!"

Sighing, Jin stepped forward and looked at her with no emotion whatsoever.

"And what if the legend turns out to be wrong?" Jin questioned.

The woman's eyes widened slightly, confused by his statement.

"What are you saying?"

"You claim to be the descendant of these people, yet you don't feel it?" Jin continued. "I began my investigation as soon as the ruins appeared. I had a feeling, but now I know."

Jin quickly looked over to Nina in the corner of his eye, thinking about the connection that she had with Azazel and then looked back to the dark haired woman before him.

"He has already begun to stir," Jin continued explaining in that same emotionless tone.

"You speak as if you actually know what these ruins hold," Zafina stated, sounding surprised.

"Long ago…" Jin started and Nina gazed at him, listening intently to what he was going to say. "…they called him the Rectifier. The temple was built in his name…The name of Azazel."

Zafina's breath hitched a little, shocked by Jin's statement. Nina however began to understand Azazel even more. He was from an ancient time, possibly from ancient Egyptian rule and for centuries he had lived on inside those ruins as a spirit and somehow he started coming back to life once the war, the confrontations between Kazuya and Jin were in full swing. Now, Azazel was being resurrected into a beast that would bring the world to an end.

"How do you know that?" Zafina questioned, sounding demanding. "Answer me! How is it you know that?"

"Why?" Jin followed up quickly. "Does it really make a difference?"

Nina watched as the woman's defensive stance relaxed, bowing her head in defeat.

"No but…"

"It's already started," Jin continued, not allowing her to speak. "And nobody has the power to stop it. Nobody except me."

The whirl of the helicopter came from behind them and Nina felt her cell phone ring and quickly she answered it.

"_Tell the boss that we need to go, G-Corporation are on the move."_

Nina sighed and looked back to the two people nearby.

"Ok, land the helicopter and we'll be right over."

She terminated the call and walked over to Jin.

"We need to go," she told him. "The G-Corporation is up to something."

Jin looked at her and nodded.

"All right," he replied and the two of them looked over to Zafina. "I will put an end to this."

The blonde assassin watched as Zafina looked at Jin before she turned her gaze to Nina herself, as if she was pleading with her to stop Jin. But she wasn't going to do such a thing, now that she was stuck with the curse that he was trying to get rid of. The two women continued staring at each other before Nina turned away and followed Jin to the waiting chopper and got in, taking flight and to leave Zafina to stand alone.

"So what's going on?" Jin asked the soldier sitting opposite him.

"The enemy, led by Anna Williams were last seen near the destroyed cold sleep research facility," the soldier explained. "Should we pursue them?"

Jin shook his head negatively and crossed his arms.

"No need, just keep monitoring them and keep me up to date on what's happening," he replied. "There's other things that are more important than them at the moment…"

* * *

Meanwhile…

"So he told you that he came here?" Bruce asked Anna, who was being pushed in a wheelchair.

"Yes, he wanted to use one of the old cryogenics tubes to repair his injuries," the brunette woman explained. "You and I are the only ones that know where he went."

The two of them continued down the ruined hallway before turning left into an abandoned laboratory, the only thing left inside was an old control panel and a pool with an old tube inside of it. It looked like that somebody was already inside and Anna motioned to Bruce to push her to the control panel. He did that and quickly the woman operated the various buttons and levers and the tube began to respond. Anna had learned to do this when she watched Nina being lowered into the same pool all those years ago and she still remembered how to do it.

Soon after, the tube emerged and opened up and Bruce quickly climbed up to the top of the pool and watched as Kazuya opened his eyes, still wearing the same clothes that he wore in the Honmaru and he had that evil smirk planted across his lips.

"How are you?" Bruce asked.

Kazuya chuckled a little.

"Never better, time to go and plan our next move."

* * *

A/N: Now I wasn't going to let Kazuya die that easy, there's still a use for him in this story even though it will be a minor part from now on. Anyway, please leave reviews and this story will also be uploaded onto my DA account, so check it out there too if you get the chance. Until next chapter :)


	20. Caught in the Act

A/N: Just cracked the 40 reviews, thanks guys and here is the latest chapter. I know it's a shortened one, but soon there will be a longer one as there will be a confrontation between Jin, Nina and two other characters, plus a possible escalation of the hostility between the two armies. That should be underway within the next week or two and should be up by the start of next month at the latest. Anyway guys enjoy :)**  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco._  
_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Caught in the Act**

_May 11__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyles Perch_

_Time: 2034hrs_

He sat there with a bored expression on his face, listening to the soldier in front of him giving the usual daily report of happenings that occur throughout the day. Usually it would just consist of the enemy's movements and the multiple conflicts happening around the world, but the report being delivered at the moment…there was something that eventually that caught Jin's attention.

For days, Tekken Force units had been dispatched to the destroyed cold sleep lab and G-Corporation territory including the high security of Millennium Tower. One of the units that was watching a military compound saw Kazuya and Anna there, talking to the troops before leaving in a helicopter back to the city. Jin thought that his father was left there to die in that place, no longer having Devil to save his life like it did in the past.

"So he's still alive…" Jin said to himself and stood up off his throne. "Thanks for informing me of this, alert the bases and be ready for conflict in case the enemy decide to attack."

The soldier saluted and ran off.

Jin chuckled a little, at the fact that Kazuya was one hard person to kill, but it was obviously something in that family. The way that he saw it Heihachi, Kazuya and Jin himself should have all died a long time ago and the amount of times that they had survived was well beyond any normal human capability. Heihachi, despite lacking the Devil Gene, was able to survive a fall down a ravine, being thrown into a wall and survived the landing after a hundred foot drop and an explosion that would have killed a normal human. Kazuya was thrown into a volcano, a ravine and was just recently shot with a laser from Devil Jin, but still he survived.

It was just something in their blood, Jin figured, that made their chances of surviving anything an almost certain possibility.

'Hmm, I almost completely forgot,' Jin thought. 'I was going to give Nina that assignment, I think she will be happy enough to do this for me.'

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 2056hrs_

The hot spray was a welcome sensation and Nina sighed, closing her eyes and allowed the warmth of the water to warm her body. Going against Jin's wishes, she had went along with the Tekken Force unit that was surveying Millennium Tower as she preferred the company of soldiers that won't stop undressing her with their eyes than to be stuck inside the building all day.

'Another day stuck in this place and I'm afraid I would have gone insane,' she thought as the warm water loosened off tight muscles and she rubbed her right shoulder. 'Maybe I should back off the training a little for now…when was the last time that I relaxed?'

So much had occurred since that night that Jin approached her in that bar full of testosterone-fuelled men, offering her the position of being his bodyguard. From day one there was never a dull moment, or a time to rest as she was involved in a freeway war with Anna and G-Corporation and getting shot in the process. Then there was the tournament and running errands, the war and of course the new entity that had decided to make a new home in her body. Hell, not even their supposed vacation to Nina's homeland was relaxing as they were under attack by G-Corporation and Hwoarang stealing the motorbike that once belonged to Nina's father.

A smirk crept onto her face when she thought about that copper-headed jackass. Of course Nina wanted to find him and to make him pay, but also to get him fulfil his obligation to Jin since he lost the fight.

'That bastard won't know what will hit him the next time we meet.'

A few moments later and the assassin had enough of the warm water, turning off the shower head and stepping out. She grabbed the robe that hung off the back of the door and pulled it on, tying it up at the waist and grabbing a towel off the rack before opening the door and stepped out into the living area while drying her hair. Nina hummed softly as she made her way to the kitchen area, going to the fridge in search for something to eat, but only bottled water and a carrot was occupying the space.

'Damn, when was the last time I shopped for food?'

"I have food in my quarters if you want some."

Nina closed the door and slowly looked over her shoulder, to the man that stood in the doorway.

"Well, if you wanted me to sleep with you tonight just come out and say it," she said, smirking and turned around to him fully. "But I can see by the look on your face that you're here on business. So who do you want me to assassinate?"

Jin shook his head, chuckling at the woman's attempt at humour.

"No one is going to be assassinated," he replied and walked to the couch and sat down. "I want you to follow your sister and bring her in."

Crossing her arms, Nina raised an eyebrow at the request. Why would Jin want her to bring Anna, of all people, to him? Obviously it had something to do with Kazuya and G-Corporation, but in snatching the younger sister probably was going to add fuel to the fire.

"What do you want with that minx? It's not like she's any threat to us," she asked skeptically.

"That's what I thought, but it's been told that she's had been contacting my father during weeks following the incident at Honmaru," Jin explained. "Now that he's powerless, maybe then we can finish him off. And besides, you'll have the opportunity to have some…fun with Anna."

At the sound of those words, Nina smirked. Yes, it was about time that she had the opportunity to exact revenge for Anna capturing her, turning her to Kazuya and placed into cold sleep all those years ago.

"Hmm, when do you want me to get started?"

"Not tonight obviously, but I trust that you'll get the job done as quickly as possible."

Nina nodded and placed a hand on her hip.

"I'll take a handful of soldiers with me," she replied, smirking. "Time to give bitch a taste of her own medicine, she wouldn't know what had hit her."

Walking out of the kitchen and into the living area, Nina sat down on the couch and crossed her bare legs in an almost seductive manner, making Jin swallow loudly. Of course she did it on purpose for her own amusement, just to try and make him lose composure it was just something that they did to one another. Nina caught his gaze, as they wandered all over her body and she chuckled a little.

"Want to take a picture?" Nina mocked. "It lasts longer."

Jin shook his head and started to make his way to her bedroom, his feet moving automatically. He stopped at the doorway and looked over his shoulder.

"Well I think I'll stay here then just so I don't need to," he replied in an almost mocking tone. "I know it's early but I'm feeling a little sleepy."

The blonde assassin sighed and looked at him skeptically.

"You know that most of the time that you say that we don't end up sleeping until a few hours later…"

"Are you coming or are you planning to stay out here all night?" Jin interrupted and walked inside. Nina couldn't help but grin and decided to give in and shortly followed suit.

* * *

_Just over a year ago…_

_The temple burned around them as the two young men threw kicks and punches at one another. Both were strong fighters, but the dark-haired man appeared to be weakened as he struggled to stay up on his feet, the Devil screaming in his mind. Jin had been fighting with his Devil Gene for quite awhile now, since just before the fight between him and his rival began. And now because of it, Hwoarang had the upper-hand and threw a high roundhouse kick into his jaw, sending him to the ground. _

_Jin landed heavily and laid face down on the dirty, broken ground and feeling the bitter taste of defeat clinging to his lips, mixed with his own blood and all he was left to do was to savour it, fuelling the Devil even more. He felt himself struggling to hold on as his rival began jumping around, hurling words of insult and victory as Hwoarang was finally able to defeat Jin Kazama, his long-time rival and was now one step closer to claiming the title of King of Iron Fist. Jin clenched his teeth as he got up onto all fours, canines protruded from his mouth and he looked up at the Korean as the markings appeared on his torso. _

_Hwoarang's eyes widened, taking a few steps back as he felt himself feeling apprehensive. He didn't mean to take it too far and now he was in the presence of the Devil himself. _

"_Whoa Kazama, I was only joking around with ya!" he exclaimed in fear, watching as the horns grew out of Jin's temples and the black wings sprouted from his back. "Please just let me…"_

_Jin finished his transformation and stood up onto his feet, finding the strength once again to do so. His eyes no longer were the brown that Hwoarang fought against, instead they were the crystal white that he was now scared of. Devil Jin laughed evilly and held out his hand, levitating the young man off the ground and threw him into a nearby wall. _

"_AHHHH!" Hwoarang screamed as he felt a few of his bones break as he made contact with hardened wood and steel. _

_In an instant, he felt himself become pinned underneath as Devil Jin leapt through the air and landed onto the Korean's chest, digging his knee into him and raised a fist into the air ready to strike. However, something from his sub-consciousness stopped him and Devil Jin stood up, seeing that the Korean man slipped into unconsciousness. Deciding to leave, he took flight and left Hwoarang on the ground, surrounded by fire and flames. _

* * *

_Present Day…_

_May 12__th__ 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Nina's Quarters_

_Time: 0654hrs_

Jin shot up in the bed, gasping and then instantly calmed down as he felt the soft silk sheets touched his bare body. Sighing, he laid back down and closed his eyes for a moment and started to think. Even though he was in his Devil form then, Jin could clearly remember that moment, where he was ready to kill Hwoarang because he had lost control of his Devil side. Maybe if Devil didn't play with his mind during that fight, he probably would have won but throughout the entire round he couldn't keep his focus. That's what his old karate master and Heihachi had taught him, to keep focus during a fight or risk losing.

In many ways, Jin didn't deserve to win, but it had to be done. If he didn't defeat Jinpachi, then his quest to end the Mishima bloodline would have failed and Kazuya would have gone on to conquer the world and to capture Jin and kill him. What kind of world would it be if that happened? Not a very pleasant place, he thought at one stage, but it would be at war just like it was now.

Sighing, he turned his head and saw that Nina's side of the bed was empty, her handgun had disappeared from the bedside table and there was no sounds coming from the outside room. Chances were that she had already gone out to locate her sister and to bring her to Jin. That was one characteristic that Jin liked about Nina, that she was reliable and was willing to carry out her work efficiently. She hasn't failed him yet and he trusted that she never will.

'I'm sure she would mind if I stayed in here for a while longer,' he thought and turned onto his side. 'Besides, she'll probably be a while anyway.'

He closed his eyes and prayed that he would get back to sleep.

* * *

_Location: Rundown Projects_

_Time: 1745hrs_

"Yes, I'm on my way there right now," Anna spoke into her red cell phone.

Kazuya was on the other end, he had ordered Anna to meet up with someone that had information on the Mishima Zaibatsu. But apparently this person was a hard person to get information out of and deciding to send his best woman to deal with this person, he had asked for her assistance.

"Ok, I'll be back at HQ soon."

She terminated the line and pocketed her phone back into her white fur coat and continued down the corridor of that rundown building, the clicks of her red heels echoed throughout and she turned a corner. Tekken Force soldiers emerged from a nearby stairwell, their guns pointed down the hall as Nina appeared behind them, he own handgun held tightly in her grasp. Smirking she pointed in the direction that Anna went off in.

"Ok, we'll follow quietly," she ordered. "Apprehend both of them and we'll get them to HQ as quickly as possible before G-Corporation find out. Let's move out."

_Ten minutes later…_

Moaning and groaning could be heard from outside the door of the room. The soldiers looked at one another and wondered what was going on, it sounded as if somebody was dying in there or that they were in distress. Neither of them made a move and this was frustrating Nina, she wanted to know what was going on and to get the hell out there with Anna and whoever she was meeting up with.

"I don't have time for this," she muttered and pushed past roughly.

Deciding not to wait around any longer, Nina kicked down the door with one booted heel and motioned for the soldiers to charge in. They obeyed and she followed them in, her gun raised and her eyes scanned the room. It was just like the average rundown apartment, leaking pipes and moulded walls. Floorboards had been lifted and trash was left on the ground as rats ran across the ground. Eventually her eyes lead her to a sight that disgusted her…it was degrading even for the brunette woman on the torn and ripped mattress, her red dress pushed up to her hips and her legs wrapped around the man's waist. The two of them looked over slowly to the soldiers and at the assassin, blushing as they were suddenly surrounded by an audience.

Nina could easily recognise the man, it was hard to miss his copper-coloured hair, his belt was undone and spots of red lip-stick coated his throat. The blonde woman had to say something.

"This is just low, even for you," Nina spat, pointing at Hwoarang. "You don't even know where he's been. Plus, he's lower than the age group that you usually go for."

Anna scoffed and pushed the Korean off her.

"Says the woman that's sleeping with my boss' son," she replied, voice filled with venom. "But I guess you haven't been getting any action lately, have you?"

Hwoarang got up and stood in between the two sisters.

"Hey, there's no need to fight I'm sure that the two of you can share…"

A loud bang, a gunshot, rang throughout the room, followed by a scream of agony as Hwoarang fell to the ground. He looked up, choosing to ignore the pain in his foot and saw the barrel of Nina's gun pointed at the spot that his foot was before.

"You bitch!" He screamed at her. "What was that for?"

She smiled sweetly at him and lowered her weapon.

"That was for stealing my bike," she replied. "I was just simply…showing you my gratitude." She motioned to the soldiers. "Take them both to the vehicles and inform the boss on mission success."

Without hesitation the soldiers rushed over and grabbed the younger Williams sister and the wounded man on the floor. Nina smirked as they were dragged past her and looked down at the ground, a gleam of silver peering up at her. Reaching down, she picked up the metallic object…it was the necklace that her father gave her and she had left on the bike, attached to the handlebar. Smiling, she turned around and walked out of the room.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Jin's Office_

_Time: 1923hrs_

"Mission success," Nina said as she walked into the office and walked down to the desk. "Never thought it was going to be that easy."

Jin looked up from his paperwork at her and smiled.

"I knew it wouldn't be hard for someone of your skill and talent," he replied and stood up. "Where is she?"

Nina sat down in the chair opposite her. She was in a good mood, not only she was able to successfully carry out her order, but she was able to catch two fish on the one hook with the apprehension of Jin's rival and the jackass that stole her bike. Now, Hwoarang would have either the choice of joining the Tekken Force or to be executed for opposing the Zaibatsu.

"Don't worry, she's locked up in our highest security cell," the assassin replied with a slight grin on her face. "Also, we brought along someone else that you might be interested in."

The raven-haired man raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Who is it?"

"Think of it as someone who holds an obligation to you and chose to get out of it by a stolen bike," Nina replied and smirked. "Oh, and I don't think he'll be in action for a while since I shot him in the foot."

Shaking his head, Jin chuckled slightly and crossed his arms.

"Good work," he said. "Two targets in one day, now all we need to do is to get some information from these two."

Nina nodded. Jin grabbed his phone off the desk and held it up to his ear.

"Start getting answers out of Anna Williams, I'm on my way down now."

Jin pocketed his phone and walked with Nina down to the door. Kazuya wouldn't know what would hit him once he acquired the answers he needed and soon there will one less worry on his mind before Azazel.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

The black SUV pulled up to a stop at the docks. It was abandoned, so there was no chance of them being caught. Lars sat back and sighed, relieving himself of the stress that he was just put under. What was he thinking just under twenty-four hours ago? Going straight to Millennium Tower, heading into heavy gunfire from hostile forces and losing half of his men, including his dear friend Tougou, who was gunned down. Sure he was able to confront Kazuya, but the losses were too great.

He looked to the seat next to him, to the android that had accompanied him all this time. But there was that conversation with Wang Jinrei that was on his mind, telling Lars that Alisa was nothing but trouble. The former officer didn't want to believe it, but somehow he sensed something terrible it was connected with her.

Shaking his head, Lars decided to get mind away from that bad thought and started the engine of the vehicle back up. Sensing that something was troubling him, Alisa placed a comforting hand onto his armoured shoulder.

"Are you ok? Is your head hurting?"

Lars gasped and looked at her, nodding and then gave her a weak smile.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking what to do next," he replied quickly. "I'm starting to think that we should go and confront Jin Kazama before it's too late."

'Before he brings this world to an end,' Lars quickly added in his mind before putting the vehicle into gear and the car sped off down the docks.

* * *

A/N: I know that the capture of Anna and Hwoarang appeared to be short and the interaction between those two wasn't explained here, I did it on purpose. But it will be explained and explored in the next chapter in flashbacks as they are interrogated by both Nina and Jin separately. Until next chapter :)


	21. Questions and Answers

A/N: Finally an update, I've been busy with other things that I've haven't had the time to write. But recently things have started to settle and I've managed to finished this chapter, which is longer than what I had first thought but there was just so much that I wanted to put in. Anyway, this chapter just pushed the fic past the 100,000+ word mark and there's still a little while to go. Thanks to those that had continued to read and adding this to their favourites and alerts during my absence, I really do appreciate the support. There will be a sequel to this fic, so I'll be planning that very soon. Ok, enough from me and I'll get started on the next chapter and hopefully that should be up before Christmas. As always, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: Questions and Answers**

_May 12th 2008_

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Interrogation Room #1_

_Time: 2015hrs_

The young male was thrashing around, trying in vain to break the restraints that bound him to the metal chair. Since he had been dragged out of that place, Hwoarang was brought straight to the metal room that he was confined in, small and dark with only a single light-bulb illuminating the room, not giving off much light. But the darkness was the least of his problems along with his movements under the constant surveillance of the soldiers, he was used to it from when he was a soldier himself.

No one had told him what was going on, but that was because no one else knew of what Jin's plans were for the Korean except for two people, and he was well acquainted with them. Hwoarang knew since that day in Dublin that Jin would send Nina and the Tekken Force after him and eventually capture him. He didn't expect to slip from their grasp the first time, he just didn't want to get caught up in the crossfire between the Tekken Force and the G-Corporation military, and he escaped by using the stolen motorbike. Not that he cared at first that he stole the bike, but he eventually lost control and the bike crashed into a small lake in the countryside and it was at that point that Hwoarang realised that he didn't make such a smart move in stealing something that belonged to one of the world's most deadly assassins.

With no money, Hwoarang travelled throughout Europe, hitching rides with whoever would stop, stealing food from shops and houses as a means to survive as well as clothing and sometime vehicles until they ran out of fuel. Thankfully he still had his passport and was able to get through borderline checkpoints without a problem. It was only within the past month that he was able to return to Japan under the radar and without raising the alarm since he was wanted and found out that the tournament was over and Nina had been declared the winner by default.

"Hey! How long am I going to be here?" Hwoarang screamed at the guards by the door, trying to break the restraints on his wrists. "You can't do this!"

The door opened from the outside and quickly upon seeing the person that entered, Hwoarang's eyes flashed with anger.

"Damn you Kazama."

Jin looked emotionless, making his way to the chair opposite his rival. He slowly sat down and looked at the young man with a bored expression.

"I see that my bodyguard found you in the process while undertaking another task," Jin stated. "It was…unexpected, but now that's one less worry on my mind. But there's one thing that I'm curious about…"

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.

"What were you doing with Anna Williams? Apparently you had some information about our operations that you could provide her."

The other man snorted, obviously not willing to cooperate. Jin knew that it was going to be a hard bargain to get anything from his copper-headed rival, he was one of the most stubborn people that he knew other than Heihachi. The way that those muscled arms were crossed over his chest and the bored expression on his face, it was clear that Hwoarang wasn't going to break that easily.

"I haven't done anything wrong, I was doing this for the money since I don't have any source of income anymore because of what happened that night."

Jin raised an eyebrow. He had no idea that his rival was in the same building that night, blended in amongst that drunken, rowdy crowd.

_Night of the bar brawl…_

_A powerful side kick sent a drunken man flying through the air, hurling through the crowd and eventually found rest on the wall. Hwoarang dropped his foot back down onto the ground and had next to no time to react as a large fist was sent his way. But as quick as he was, he was able to duck underneath, narrowly missing the potential of deadly blow and swept the attacker's legs out from underneath._

_Standing back up, the Korean scanned around in hopes to source out the cause of the sudden riot. Apparently Jin Kazama, who Hwoarang was surprised to see in a place like this, punched Paul Phoenix into another person and then it flared up from that, spreading like wildfire through the entire building. Now, everyone seemed to be fighting against each other. _

_Looking over to the door near the bar, he spotted Paul and two other men exiting. The blond one stopped and turned back in, signalling to two others. Hwoarang could see the recognisable figure of Nina Williams heading towards the door, closely followed by a very familiar face in a long black coat. _

_Hwoarang's eyes narrowed._

"_Kazama…" he mentioned the name through gritted teeth, spitting it out like it was a curse word. _

_He hadn't seem him in person since that day during the tournament, when Jin transformed and left Hwoarang in a bad state. Since then, the young Korean swore revenge. Soon, his thoughts were broken by someone from the entrance screaming out, followed by the sound of sirens wailing._

"_Everyone here is under arrest!" the police officer stood there, a metal baton was in his hand. "Drop down to your knees or we will use force upon you!" _

_Hwoarang stood there, watching as armoured officers stormed throughout the premises, forcing people to the ground. Soon enough, he found himself on the ground and in no time at all, his hands pulled beneath and the sound of handcuffs were heard, bounding his wrists together. His only thought at that point was that Kazama had something to do with this, adding more fuel to the already raging fire burning with anger within Hwoarang. _

_Present Day…_

"Look, I didn't know that you would end up being caught in the middle of this," Jin told him, his tone steady and wavering no emotion. "But, you obviously have no idea about what you're getting yourself into, people around you are going to get hurt."

Hwoarang scoffed, eyes spitting acid and fire and the raven-haired man.

"That's a real funny thing, coming from you." The remark caught Jin's full attention. "You're actions have done nothing but hurt people. It's the troops that go about killing innocent people and for what?"

He felt his heart drop, it was the truth. True, Jin allowed his troops to kill if it was necessary, regardless if it meant the death of innocent people, but he was driven with the ambition to end the cursed bloodline. He wanted him and Kazuya to war in order to resurrect Azazel so that he could fight the beast and destroy them both in hopes to rid the world of the Devil Gene and bring salvation to those who had been victims of it.

His mother, who had fallen in love with a Devil and ended up giving into temptation...Hwoarang, who had been inflicted with injuries by Jin's sudden transformation and came close to death…And finally Nina, who absorbed Kazuya's last half of the Devil and now was just as cursed as Jin.

Jin then realised that it had to end soon or risk the Devil Gene hurting for people, even kill a person. Azazel's influence grew stronger everyday, continuously speaking to Jin, even to the point of chanting.

_Heir of the cursed blood!_

_Come before me and face judgement._

_The wrath of the Gods will be inflicted upon thee_

_And my time of destruction will be upon the world._

_There will be no escape as this cursed world is succumbed by damnation_

_And every living thing will face demise._

_Come forward Devil and release my spirit._

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle Tower- Interrogation Room #2_

_Time: 2021hrs_

_Heir of the cursed blood!_

_Come before me and face judgement._

_The wrath of the Gods will be inflicted upon thee_

_And my time of destruction will be upon the world._

_There will be no escape as this cursed world is succumbed by damnation_

_And every living thing will face demise._

_Come forward Devil and release my spirit._

Her hand hovered over the door handle, head echoed with that voice chanting to the point of her head was ready to explode. Since she had received the curse, Nina could hear Azazel just like Jin did and knew that he would have received the same chant as well. Looking down at her exposed right forearm, the mark stared back, sending a chill down her spine.

Was she going to become a danger? What would happen if she would suddenly transform and lose control? Those were the questions that lingered around like a bad taste and the Devil's influence grew stronger by each passing minute, she could feel it. Ever since she came back and started being around Jin's side, the soldiers had become more fearful of the assassin and did everything in their power to not to do anything that might anger her as they had heard of Jin's transformations.

'Snap out of it!' Nina screamed in her mind. 'You've managed to get this far, don't let it control you.'

Nina shook her head and turned the handle, pushing the door open and walked inside with caution. One of the guards already in the room closed the door behind her as she approached the metal table in the middle of the tiny, dim lit room and looked down upon the person occupying one of the two chairs in the room. Her eyes showed that she wasn't amused by this woman's antics, to sink so low just to get information about her boss and the organisation.

"Anna," Nina began, trying find the words to say to her younger sister. "You're pathetic, to sink that low just so that you would gain an advantage in this war…"

The brunette returned the glare and narrowed her eyes.

"Well excuse me for falling for that boy's charms," Anna sneered. "I guess I'm just powerless when it comes to handsome looking men. But if this 'incident' ever reached Kazuya, you know that he wouldn't approve."

Nina sighed and sat down in the chair opposite her sister, resting her forearms on the table and leaned forward.

"Why do it when you know that he wouldn't approve? If I was in your position I would have found some other way to get the information," she explained, almost in a hushed whisper. "So tell me…why were you trying to get information? What is Kazuya planning?"

"Like I'd tell you, my dear sister…" Anna's gaze slowly looked downwards to where Nina's arms were resting on the table. "If I were you, I would worry about myself then to get answers out of me because clearly you're wasting your time."

The blonde followed down the line that Anna was looking down and noticed that it was that the Devil mark branded onto her arm. Quickly removing it with an exasperated gasp, Nina's eyes widened slightly before turning into quick anger, Anna could sense her discomfort on the subject.

"My, my Nina, what would our father say if he found out that his pride and joy had a tattoo-like mark for all to see," Anna continued in her usual sneering tone that she used on Nina. "I know he wouldn't approve, that's for sure…"

"That's enough!" Nina roared, slamming her fists on the table, jumping up onto her feet in anger. "You've got some nerve for telling me what our father would or wouldn't approve of. He sure as hell wouldn't approve of what you've been doing, let alone a tiny mark on my arm."

She held her arm out, flashing the cursed mark toward her sister.

"You can thank your boss for this curse," Nina continued. "Now, I'm just like him and Jin. Cursed by the Devil and the only way for me to gain salvation is by death or by killing that goddamned beast Azazel, so don't think that…"

Oh shit…what did she just say?

Mouth wide open, Nina was shocked when she just unwillingly revealed the reason why Jin started the war. The secret was out in the open and Anna sat there with a smug, satisfied grin on her face. Mission complete.

"Well, well, well," Anna began. "I think I've got what I need, you've really messed up this time, Nina."

The older sibling mentally slapped herself. There was no taking it back now.

'Well done Nina,' her conscience mocked. 'Thanks to you, Anna has all she needs to fuck up everything for you. Well fucking done, imagine what Jin would say to you now.'

Indeed, Nina has fucked up big time and if Anna managed to escape, it would only be a matter of time before Kazuya would find out and then it would be a race against time for Jin to reach Azazel before his father. She hated being in this situation, always had whenever Anna was involved.

"But you still have to get out of here first if Kazuya has any chance of finding out anything…"

Anna cut her off when she started laughing, causing Nina to become confused and raise a quizzical eyebrow. Why was Anna laughing?

"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

Anna ceased her laughing and gazed at her sister.

"Look down at my right heel."

Nina walked around, still wondering what Anna was on about and then knelt down. She looked at the ankle, a flashing beacon with a speaker implanted inside the heel of the shoe. The blonde assassin's eyes widened and then looked up at her sister.

Shit. That minx had set the whole thing up.

"You fucking bitch, you set the whole thing up."

Anna chuckled.

"Yes, I wanted to get captured. That boy was nothing more than a pawn to me, he was in the whole thing too since he offered his services to us."

Nina set her jaw. How could she fall for a trap? Why couldn't she detect it?

"So now, G-Corp forces are on their way here in 3…2…1…"

Whole building shook violently, sounded by an explosion. The enemy was right outside using by the sounds of it the full arsenal of their military power. They weren't prepared for a full-scaled war to occur right at the base of their operations and now Nina realised that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place and that there was no escape.

Before she knew it, the last sight that she saw was the red clad heel of Anna connecting with her jaw and then darkness.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in Interrogation Room #1…_

"What was that?" Jin wondered as the room shook. He looked over his shoulder as the door opened. "What's the status, commander?"

The soldier saluted quickly and stood at ease.

"Sir, G-Corp troops are attacking the south side of the building," the commander spoke. "We've already taken heavy damage from the missiles and now they're deploying JACKS, which have already entered the ground floor."

Jin narrowed his eyes and pulled out his phone. Hopefully Nina had heard about this and was trying to get the situation under control. He quickly dialled her number and held the object to his ear and soon he was through to the other side.

"Nina, there's been a…"

"_Sir, Miss Williams has been knocked unconscious and the guards occupying the room have been shot dead."_

Jin felt his jaw drop slightly, a sudden burst of anger rushed through his body as he heard about the situation. How in the world did this happen? It was obvious that something went terribly wrong during the interview as he knew for a fact that Nina wouldn't allow herself to be put into that position. What if Anna had…?

"Shit," he cursed. "Ok, I'm coming over there."

"_Yes boss, I'll stay with her until you get here."_

Jin pocketed his phone and looked over at the commander.

"Come with me to the other interrogation room," he ordered and glanced over to the guards. "You two make sure nobody gets in here without my permission. The other prisoner is on the loose will try and come here."

Without saying another word, Jin and the commander ran out of the room and Hwoarang sat there to only watch the door close behind them. The plan was working perfectly, he was certain that he had picked the right side after all. Once he was certain that Jin and the commander were well out earshot, his attention turned to the guards by the door.

"Hey guards, how about you loosen these restraints for me?" he requested. "My wrists are starting to hurt."

* * *

_Location: Interrogation Room #2_

_Time: 2026hrs_

The door flung open and the sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the room. Eventually after a short while the dust had cleared and Jin was able to open his eyes and scan around the room. He knew that something wasn't right the moment that he stepped inside, the marbled floor was slippery and there was an all too familiar stench as it reached his senses. It was nauseating, enough to make the most toughened fighter or soldier to come close to faint, and Jin didn't have to look down at his feet to realise that the guards were lying in the combined pool of their blood.

It was obvious that this was the work of Anna, a skilled assassin just like her older sister and was able to use her skills to escape. Eventually his thoughts soon turned to the woman that was unconscious on the ground, being tended to by a soldier that must have heard the confrontation. There didn't appear to be any major visible damage, only a small red mark from what appeared to be from a heel that must have struck her in the jaw.

"She's going to be fine," the soldier told him and stood up. "There's nothing serious, she's just going to have some soreness in the jaw for the next while and…"

"Ugh…mmm…"

Both men looked down at the ground at Nina. Slowly her eyes flicked open, a throbbing pain in her jaw as she tried to sit upright. Automatically, Jin rushed to her side and knelt down, helping her to sit and placed her back up against the table leg. Nina looked around the room, seeing the bloodstains across the room from where she was and to the two dead bodies on the ground laying in that crimson pool.

Anna sure made quick work of escaping from there.

'Mental note to self…never…EVER allow Anna to trick me like that again.'

"What happened here?" Jin asked and helped her up onto her feet.

Nina pulled her arm out of his grasp and leaned up against the edge of the table.

"Anna confessed everything to me," she answered softly, with a hint of disappointment in her voice as she looked down at the ground. "But…that was after I made the mistake…"

She looked up at him then.

"I accidentally let it slip about the plan during a heated argument with her and then she told me that all of this was a set up just to get information," she continued, voice no longer holding its usual composure. "I'm sorry Jin, but she wouldn't stop about the Devil mark on my arm."

Jin looked away from her, his jaw set. So Hwoarang was just a decoy so Anna could face Nina personally to gain information? Of course it was a set up, Kazuya wouldn't be stupid enough to allow his forces to raid the Zaibatsu without intention, there had to be a reason, a plan and he had succeeded. That meant if Anna was able to escape then…

"Sir, the other prisoner has escaped," the commander said, breaking the silence. "It seemed that the 'guards' that we left him with were a couple of enemy soldiers undercover."

The raven-haired man sighed heavily and looked at the commander.

"Forget about them," he told him. "They would be long gone by now. Focus our attention on eliminating the enemy and protect the building." He looked to Nina. "Come on, we'll head up to the perch and discuss what we're going to do next."

* * *

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu- Central Tower_

_Time: 2045hrs_

It was easy for them to sneak into the underground, since the army was occupied with the G-Corp hostiles. However, Lars was curious as to why Kazuya would send his forces to the centre of all of the Mishima Zaibatsu's operations. It was odd, why risk losing manpower? Was it just to get to Jin, or was there another plan under the agenda? Well whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him as there was another task that had to be done and Jin Kazama was going to answer to him.

He and Alisa soon walked up to a glass platform, which appeared to be some sort of elevator that ran up the entire length of the tower. Of this time of service, Lars had only been up onto the top floor once when conversing with Jin on matters concerning the campaign in Russia. He knew what would be waiting for them up there and turned to Alisa.

"He should be up there," he told her. "We shouldn't encounter any more of those robots just like the one we encountered earlier."

The pink-haired android nodded.

"Right. I cannot pick up any forces from either side within the radius of our current location," Alisa explained. "But I can sense two powerful beings up on the top floor of this building."

The two of them walked onto the platform, which then automatically started its ascent. Of course one of the beings that Alisa sensed would have to be Jin, but who was the other one? Could it be Kazuya? Lars had that familiar funny feeling that something wasn't right, and usually his feelings turn out to be true.

* * *

_Location: Gargoyle's Perch_

_Time: 2051hrs_

His legs were crossed, eyes glued to the woman that stood before him. Neither of them knew what else they could do, now that Kazuya was going to know everything it was only a matter of time before he would reach Azazel before Jin did. But why should he be worried? Kazuya no longer has the power of the Devil Gene, therefore he couldn't possibly truly kill Azazel, unless…

"Do you remember Azazel mentioning anything about an orb?" Nina asked.

Jin removed his cheek that had been resting on his hand and looked on with curiosity. He shook his head.

"It had said once, not too long ago…" Nina continued, folding her arms over her chest. "That anyone that defeats him, has access to an orb that is stored in its chest. An orb of great power to those that do not have the power of the Devil. However…those who have the power of the Devil, will lose that power once they come in contact with it."

It clicked then. If Kazuya truly had lost his part of the Devil, then it was only more fitting that he claimed this power from an entity that was just as powerful and forever eliminating any chance of ridding the world of the Devil Gene and if he managed to kill Jin in battle…then the world will fall to the Devil's mercy. Kazuya will become invincible.

They were running out of time. Jin knew that he had to get to Egypt and into Azazel's chamber before Kazuya.

"Alright, we'll go to Azazel and put an end to this," Jin explained carefully. "If this is what Kazuya is after, then we need to hurry or otherwise it'll be too late."

Nina nodded.

"Right, I'll inform the air squad to prepare the plane and the chopper for when we arrive."

The assassin pulled out a communicator from the pocket of her black jacket to make the arrangements. Jin sat back and watched her, wondering how was the remainder of the Devil was going to be destroyed once he defeated Azazel. Sure his half would be gone, but what of the part that now currently was inside of the blonde woman before him, giving orders to the air staff to prepare the transport to Egypt. Perhaps that mysterious orb was the answer, but wouldn't it be destroyed if Azazel was gone? This was the part that he wasn't prepared for. The reason why it was safe for both him and Kazuya to have half of the curse was because they learned to control it, to use under their own discretion and without anything to trigger the transformation. But Nina…she could change at any given time and it was unpredictable as to what would happen.

Time was running out for them to figure out what to do with it.

After a minute or two, Nina pocketed the device and turned her attention to the man in the throne.

"Ok, it's done. We are due to leave in a few hours," she explained. "We'll arrive in Cairo and stay there for as long as we need to before setting off for the temple."

Jin nodded.

"Very well, call the commander and ask for a status report. Hopefully with those two out, we shouldn't encounter any hostile forces while we make our exit."

His bodyguard walked up the steps and stood next to him, on his right side at the sound of something moving, like an elevator. Sapphire eyes gazed cautiously, carefully as if she was trying to catch something in surprise. A moment later, her eyes widened slightly at the sight as the hole in the middle of the floor disappeared as the glass lift stopped and two figures appeared before them.

'How did they get past the conflict outside?' Nina thought. 'Even if they went underground, we tightened security so that they couldn't gain access again.'

Oh yes, Nina remembered her confrontation with Lars and Alisa just a few days ago.

_Flashback…_

_May 9th 2008_

_Mishima Zaibatsu Central Subway_

_The assassin laid flat on her stomach, watching as Lars and that android fight off Tekken Force militia. She wasn't even meant to be there, but after getting orders from Jin to send soldiers to take care of them, she decided to accompany them and apprehend them herself. It was actually a coincidence that she had found them, lingering in the Zaibatsu's underground rail network while watching security footage as she was investigating an incident involving one of the NANCY-MI847J robots being destroyed by an unknown assailant. _

_It was there that she found them running away from the scene and Lars discussing to Alisa about an underground network that the Zaibatsu used to transport military weapons without being detected by the G-Corporation. And after a call to Jin and receiving orders to dispatch soldiers, it led them to this, fighting on the back of a moving train and almost certain death if anyone managed to fall off. _

_Nina had to admit, the two of them fought off the soldiers quite well. But fun time was over and it was time to put an end to this, once and for all. Deciding not to wait any longer, Nina got up onto her feet and jumped down from the ledge and landed with a soft click of her heels, causing Lars and Alisa to look over at her in surprise. _

"_I never thought they'd send you after us," Lars said to her evenly, well aware of Nina being Jin's own personal bodyguard._

_Nina scoffed. Obviously Lars was mocking the strength of the soldiers, but in reality she didn't want to risk losing their best men and women just to take care of Lars. Besides, Jin never sent her as she was there on her own accord as it was her duty._

"_Protecting Jin Kazama is my job, and I'm very good at it," she replied. _

_Lars nodded and got into his fighting stance._

"_I'm sure you are. But that won't make me go easy on you." _

_Nina braced herself as he charged at her and threw a punch, but being a trained assassin she had quick reflexes like a cat and ducked. She swept his legs out, causing him to fall heavily onto his stomach, groaning in pain. The woman saw an opportunity and prepared to do a heel drop, but Lars saw it coming and rolled out of the way and quickly stumbled up onto his feet. With no time to react, Lars sidestepped as Nina kicked at him, narrowly missing his head and she turned around. _

_Chuckling, she knew that this wasn't going to be an easy fight. Lars was once one of Jin's top soldiers and was trained in a hybrid of military fighting styles and hand to hand combat. Quickly, Lars attempted to sweep Nina's legs out from underneath her, but she did a back flip to avoid the leg, gripping onto long, lightweight steel pipe that was behind her and landed back onto her feet. With the weapon in hand, she swung it like a katana at him and all Lars was able to do was to dodge the potentially fatal blows. _

_Lars was doing well to dodge them, but soon his luck ran out and suddenly he lost his balance…_

"_Shit!" He cursed and realised then that he was in a dangerous position as his head hung over the edge of the moving train and Nina was over him, pressing the pipe across his throat. _

_She applied pressure and soon Lars felt himself go lightheaded as the pipe reduced the amount of oxygen going into the brain. It was all going to be over if_ _something wasn't done. _

_From nearby, he could see Alisa moving quickly from behind the assassin and then soon the pressure on his windpipe was soon released as Alisa threw a kick into Nina's side and threw her off the moving train. Lars watched as Nina hit the concrete wall and fell onto the ground, unmoving. _

_Present Day…_

But because of the Devil, she was able to recover and returned to Jin and informed him that Lars had escaped. Now just a few days later, the two of them watched as Nina walked down those steps and stood before them.

"Why do you stop at nothing to protect Jin?" Lars asked her.

Nina slowly narrowed her eyes slightly. She knew the answer, but it wasn't like that she was prepared to tell a man who was willing to betray his army just to form a rebellion against its leader.

"Because it's my job," Nina replied before finishing the answer in her mind. 'And because I love him, that's why.'

Lars watched as she got into her fighting stance, eyes now narrowed in that deadly gaze and he accepted that he had to fight her once more. But something quickly caught his eye…

'That mark…she's the other being that Alisa was referring to…' Lars thought. 'She's another one of those monsters, like Jin…the cursed Devil Gene of the Mishima's.'

"If getting through you is the only way to face Jin, so be it."

Nina ran at him at breakneck speed, kneeing him in the torso and the wind was knocked out of Lars. Even though he was slightly winded, the former officer grabbed her leg and flipped her onto her back and attempted to drop a punch down from above, aiming for her head. However, Nina caught his arm between her legs and repositioned herself on him as he rolled onto the ground, catching the man's left arm in an arm lock.

"Ahhh!" Lars screamed in pain as he felt his arm being pulled out of the socket as Nina applied even more pressure to the hold.

The assassin moved once again, this time to grab the other arm. Lars couldn't take much more of this and fell backwards, his heavy muscular frame pinned Nina underneath and then he rolled off. The smaller woman felt like she had been hit by a car as she got up onto all fours and had almost no time to react as Lars attempted to deliver a kick that was sure to knock her out, but she rolled backwards and climbed up onto her feet. She sent a couple of jabs his way followed by her infamous Blonde Bomb, sending Lars sliding backwards and eventually on the ground. His head hit the steps that Jin's throne, and the man himself, were at the top of.

He was going to make an attempt to confront Jin, but then felt himself being flipped over onto his back and saw Nina ready to finish it off. He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow, but that never came…

Opening one blue eye, and then both, a sense of relief filled him as Alisa knocked Nina to the ground and out cold. With a small smile, he got up and nodded to his partner before his expression turned serious and to the man he came to see. Jin was out of his throne and stood upright, his gaze set firmly on Lars and then over to Alisa. This man had proved himself as a worthy fighter, but was he strong enough to fight Jin himself and without the help of the android?

"Just what do you think you're doing to our world?" Lars demanded, anger evident in his voice.

Jin sighed and crossed his arms.

"I'm just returning everything back to the way it should be," Jin replied calmly.

The comment infuriated Lars even more. Was this guy serious? Did Jin have any idea as to what was happening to the world?

"Even if it means ending everything in the process?"

Kazama narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to end everything, he was damn sure of that and he couldn't forget about what his mother said about doing thing inclined for the good of the world. If it meant to start a war to awaken a sleeping God and to destroy it along with himself in hopes to bring an end to the curse, then it was something that had to be done. That was his mission and he was damned to allow anyone to stop him, he just wanted to rid the world of the Devil Gene so that it wouldn't hurt anyone, anymore.

"That's of no concern to you."

The two men charged at each other and attempted to strike at each other, only to have their fists meet in the middle and sent them back, onto one knee and shocked that they met each other's blows. Nearby, Nina opened her eyes and witnessed Jin and Lars on one knee, gazing at each other and she got up. It was clear that despite his Devil powers, Jin and Lars were going to be evenly matched, but why? Was there something about Lars that was hidden to the eye? Whatever it was, it was a threat and had to be eliminated.

Getting up, she wandered over to her boss as he got up and looked at him while he kept his gaze on the ground.

"Jin, we better go. Kazuya would have found out by now."

With his jaw set, Jin wordlessly began to follow her out with clenched fists. He was sure that Nina would deal with Lars afterwards, but there was the matter of Azazel to be dealt with first.

"_Yes, come to me heir of the cursed blood," _Azazel spoke to him. _"Face your fate, your impending death awaits."_

"Wait!"

His voice reached them, causing them to cease movement. Jin never looked back at Lars at that moment and a deadly smirk formed on his lips. That android never attacked him while Lars was fighting Nina and there was a reason for it, because Alisa only received orders under one voice command and that person was…the truth was about to be revealed.

"Alisa. Disable safe mode," Jin ordered, slowly closing his eyes. "…and then reboot."

Something was wrong, why couldn't he figure it out? Lars had no idea as to what was going on until he heard robotic beeping from behind him. His eyes widened and slowly he looked back and saw the android's eyes had turned from those green ones that he grew fond of into red, something more deadly and…evil.

"Alisa, what's wrong?"

"Identifying voice print and bio-data," Alisa said, voice lost its usual cheerfulness. It appeared to Lars that Alisa had lost the part of her that made her almost human. "Identity confirmed as Jin Kazama. Rebooting main system in…10…"

'What has he done to her?' Lars thought, his eyes gazing at Jin's back. Anger flowed through his body and without a second thought he started to rush over towards Jin, but Alisa flew overhead, stopping in between and acted like a barrier between the two men.

"…6…5…4…3…"

"Get out of the way!" Lars demanded to her through gritted teeth. Alisa finished counting, but continued to hover between the two men. "Alisa, what's wrong?"

He was caught off guard as his former ally charged, flew at him and followed up with a roundhouse. Stunned, Lars could only block and nothing else, he wasn't going to fight her even she did become the enemy. He didn't have enough time to react to the next attack and the second kick managed to get through, connecting with his torso and he slid back a few metres. Recovering quick enough to watch her fly above them all, Lars watched her.

"It's me, Lars!"

The dust kicked up travelled between Jin and Nina, causing Nina to wave her hand in front of her as the dust stun her eyes. Obviously Alisa attacked her because she couldn't recognise Nina as an ally in her safe mode. But now it was clear that they were on the same side, it was going to make her job of eliminating Lars later much easier.

'Well, I guess today has just got better,' she thought. 'First my dear sister played me for a fool, and now Alisa is under our control. Lars is helpless without her.'

She looked up overhead and saw the android hovering well above the ground.

"Standing by for next command."

Nina looked over at Jin, a dangerous smirk well planted on his face. Everything was going according to plan.

"Standing by for next command," Alisa repeated.

Lars looked down again, turning his attention again to the Devil on the other side of the room.

"What did you do to her?"

"Are you really that stupid?" Jin asked him, finally looking at him, turning to him fully. "She was created to serve me."

"What?"

The former officer was confused. Was he really working with the enemy the entire time? Then it had hit him, he still remembered what that old man said to him, about Alisa being a danger. At first he didn't want to believe it, no one could determine it until now. Why…why did this have to happen to him?

Jin's expression turned serious.

"She's been my eyes as you led her around," he continued. "I've known exactly what you've been doing."

"You've planned this from the beginning," Lars stated.

Jin had turned around, facing the throne.

"No," he answered and turned around once more. "I had nothing to do with the G-Corporation hitting the lab or you losing your memory."

That wasn't completely true as the G-Corporation hit the lab in retaliation to the underground attack at Millennium Tower and destroying the research lab. But he had no idea that Lars would take his rebellion group to that place, it came as a shock when he, Nina and Eddy went there to survey the damage themselves.

Alisa flew down and stood in front of Jin, facing Lars as if she was protecting him from harm.

"But those factors worked to my advantage," Jin continued.

The blond man stood up and looked at Alisa with fear, confused still at what's going on.

"Move!" He demanded more forcefully than earlier.

"Standing by for next command."

Lars couldn't believe it, he's lost her. Unlike losing his dear friend during fight against G-Corporation where he was able to carry on, the former officer felt lost and he didn't know what to do. It was as if…it was as if he had already lost.

"Alisa, eradicate him," Jin commanded and turned back around. "Lars. If you have it in you to defeat her, then you and I will be ready to talk."

With nothing left to say, Jin and Nina made their exit around the back of the throne, with Lars left with his former ally. With that problem being dealt with, it was time to go and put his plan into place, but there was another problem to figure out first.

Meanwhile, Lars was left only to watch the two of them leave and Alisa remained there, she appeared that he would fight him just to stop him from going after Jin. But the thing was, Lars didn't want to fight her even though now that she was clearly on the other side. Never had he felt so conflicted, in the time that they spent together he had befriended her almost to the point of…wait, what?

Was it possible for a human to love an android? Did he feel something that pushed the boundary of humans and machine?

But it seemed that Lars no longer had a choice. Fight Alisa and risk destroying her or die and allow Jin to continue his destruction. Regardless of his feelings, there was only one way to go…

"You're not leaving me with much choice here!" Lars said to her, getting into his fighting stance.

"Command from Jin Kazama confirmed," Alisa spoke robotically. "Eradicating Lars Alexandersson."

Blocking out all of his thoughts, Lars braced himself as Alisa flew at him and dove out of the way. She went past him, but quickly changed course and headed straight down on top of him, planting her knees firmly against his chest and pinned him to the ground. Despite her image, she was incredibly heavy due to all the inside mechanics and Lars felt his body breaking from underneath. He couldn't fight back, frozen and conflicted as his life was on the line.

He knew that he had to stop her, but he didn't want to badly damage her. Alisa pointed her hands at him and two chainsaw blades formed from her elbows, directed at his throat. This was a bad situation to be in, flat on his back and an inch away from instant death. But then, he felt something build up inside of him and then it happened. Making a quick move to grab the top of her arm, Lars stretched it upright and made a quick strike into Alisa's exposed side, making her fall off and he quickly climbed up onto his feet. The two of them faced each other and Alisa made an attempt to strike at him with one of the deadly, rotating blades in which Lars ducked, narrowly missed him as it almost took off one of the spikes of his hair.

It was a close call, but was able to recover quickly as he found an opening and a surge of electricity surrounded his clenched right fist and then without a moments hesitation, unleashed the punch straight into the android's centre. Alisa fell backwards to the centre of the room and onto the ground, obviously stunned from the sheer force of the strike. Lars slowly, but cautiously made his way over as Alisa tried to sit up. Despite the attack saving him, he couldn't help but to feel guilty for what he had done, but there was something inside of him that just ticked and drove him over the edge.

'The Mishima blood that's inside me,' he thought as he looked down at the android. 'I may not have the Devil Gene, but still the blood itself is tainted.'

Sighing, he held his hand out to her, offering to help. She reached out to him, as if she had snapped out of what was commanding her to harm him, causing Lars to smile a little. The touch of her hand was soft, almost human and her eyes…her eyes were green, soft and it was like he could reach in and feel her soul. But he seemed to have forgotten at that time that Alisa was an android, a machine and quickly her whole demeanour changed. The grip on his hand tightened, the soulful green gaze quickly turned into red eyes of hatred and destruction and suddenly with a quick pull, Lars was in mid-air and hurdling to the ground. He groaned in pain as soon as his back hit the ground and rolled up onto his feet, watched as Alisa came back at him with the blades and made a horizontal strike towards his throat.

Instinctively, Lars ducked his head side ways as the blade whirred closely past his ear and she moved back. The flower hairpiece from her hair fell and the man watched as it fell to the ground with a soft thud, the last piece of her innocence gone and all that remained was a machine out for his blood. Her feet hit the ground, crouching down as if she was to launch herself into the air.

"Disengaging," Alisa spoke, jumping up into the air. Within a split second, the rockets at her ankles charged up and then she shot up into the air and out of the roof of the tower.

Lars watched as Alisa made her way into the night sky, making his way to the railing that circled the darkened, Gothic room and leaned up against it. What just happened before? He was meant to be there to question Jin over the reason for the war, but then end up fighting his former companion. There were still so many questions about that night that he wanted answered.

How did Nina become a Devil? Why were the G-Corporation bringing a fight to the enemy's door? What were Jin's true intentions for starting the war? Whatever it was, he had to find Jin and defeat him if that meant getting him to talk.

But for now, he felt as if someone was watching him.

"You alone?" A deep voice asked from the darkness.

Lars looked up to the top of a ledge and saw the man that saved him and Alisa from that giant robot from a few days ago in the subway.

'Raven…'

Lars got up off the railing as the dark skinned, well muscled figure jumped down and landed on the ground below. This man was a mystery, a ninja-like person who single-handedly destroyed one of the Mishima Zaibatsu's elite military weapons with two blades and his various martial art skills. Lars couldn't comprehend it, no normal human could have done that.

The two men met in the middle of the room and stopped in front of each other.

"Yeah," Lars replied.

Raven gazed at Lars through his dark glasses with a curious look. His face was expressionless, appearing cool and calm.

"Where's the girl?" Raven questioned like a police officer interviewing a suspect. Again like his face, the voice was deep, cool, calm and collected.

This guy meant business.

"This is getting us nowhere," Raven continued, sounding almost abrupt despite Lars' anguish. "Jin must have headed to the desert. I'll go after him."

Lars looked to the ground, he didn't understand.

'The desert? What's out there?'

Well at least he knew where Jin was going and there was only one way to answer his question.

"What about you?" The dark skinned man asked him.

Lars looked around the room of Jin's empire and looked at the man in front of him.

"He and I have unfinished business," Lars replied.

"Then get moving," Raven told him immediately.

Wordlessly, Lars made his way toward the exit with Raven in tow. Jin Kazama had found something that caught his interest in the desert, perhaps this was going to be the answer that he had been searching for. He felt something soft under his boot as he almost reached the exit and stopped, turned around and his heart dropped. It was the flower that fell from Alisa before she took off. Raven walked past him as he knelt down to pick it up, grabbing it and gazed into its delicate beauty as he stood up, but his thoughts were interrupted as the ninja approached him.

"What's the hold up?"

Lars sighed quietly and looked down at the flower once again, ran two fingers over it and closed his eyes.

"Nothing," he replied and looked up. "Let's go."

He pocketed the flower and made his way out. There were two reasons now for facing Jin, to stop him and to exact revenge on turning Alisa against him, using her like a puppet just to protect himself as he made his escape alongside his bodyguard.

Jin Kazama was going to pay for what he had done.

* * *

A/N: Ok, another long one done and I expect that there will be a few more before conclusion of this fic. I'll get started on the next one and have that posted soon. Until next time :)


	22. Desert Storm

A/N: Well I thought that I'd post this up to conclude the end of another year. Another chapter closer to the end and the next chapter or so will be running more along the lines of what happened during Scenario Campaign, just like the last chapter, but after that there won't be any more cutscenes as we grow closer to the end. Anyway, I feel for the last dozen chapters that I have teased most of you with the interactions between Jin and Nina, so this chapter should hopefully satisfy your cravings. Enjoy it guys and here is the final chapter update for 2011 :)

Warnings: LEMON alert for this chapter. Yes, you've been warned, so if you don't like that stuff then please skip that portion of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Desert Storm**

_May 13th 2008_

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu Restricted Military Zone- Cairo_

_Time: 0810hrs_

The sand kicked up as the wind increased, hitting the armour of the many soldiers near the helipad as they watched the chopper hover overhead. It was painful to look up, staring directly into the hot Egyptian sun. The soldiers felt their eyes burn through their visors, the sweat poured all over their bodies as they continued to stand encased within their metal barriers. Yes, it felt like it was hotter than hell itself and it was one of those days of which the troops waited for night-time to come quickly so that they could get out of the armour and allow the cool air from the Egyptian desert to cool them.

Four soldiers stood at each of the corners of the helipad, guiding the aircraft down. Eventually the chopper stopped its descent as it landed on the tarmac pad, bouncing as it made contact before finally resting. The engine ceased and the propellers began to slow as the door of the chopper slid open and the Colonel that stood by wander over to meet the two people that exited the craft.

"Jin Kazama," the Colonel greeted. "What brings you over here, sir?"

Jin walked to the edge of the heliport and looked around the base.

"Take me to the temple," he replied. "I have some matters that need to be taken care of personally."

The officer shook his head and began to walk with Jin and Nina toward the barracks.

"I'm sorry sir, but there's an expected storm forecast for tonight," the man explained. "So it would make getting to the temple near impossible. I think it's best to wait until the morning or a few days at the most before we can take you there."

"What if we took one of the land vehicles?" Nina asked. "I'm sure the armoured vehicles would be heavy enough to not get blown away in a strong gust."

The trio stopped outside a building, the officer climbed up to the top of the steps and turned around to face them.

"I'm sorry, but the storms out here can get unpredictable, and dangerous," the Colonel said and pointed to a secluded building on the other side of the grounds. "The two of you can stay in the villa over there. We built it for any visiting officers from other battalions who need a place to stay. I'm sorry I couldn't be of much more help."

He opened the door and looked back at the two.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Wordlessly the Colonel entered and closed the door behind him, leaving Jin and Nina to stand outside as the desert storm began to build, the sand piercing whatever bare skin they had exposed. The both of them didn't have spare clothes on them since they left straight from Gargoyle Tower to catch the plane and even on Jin's private plane there was nothing to change into. But not that it mattered, they were there for one thing and one thing only and it was unfortunate that they had to wait at least another day or two to do that.

But for now, all they could do was sit and wait for the opportunity to present itself and hope that Kazuya hadn't reached Azazel first, since he would already know about Jin wanting to kill him to destroy the Devil Gene alongside. Another day of waiting could prove to be the gain of the enemy, but there's no point of getting trapped out in the furious storm and never making it to the ruins.

Sighing, Nina looked to the villa across the grounds and placed her hands onto her hips.

"Well then, we better head indoors before this storm picks up," Nina suggested. "Having your skin torn to bits by a sandstorm is not a good idea."

The raven-haired man beside her nodded and crossed his arms, his cheeks stinging as the hot Egyptian sand flew at him and burning sensation seeping deeper. He gazed over to the assassin from the corner of his eye and noticed that she too was red in the face, her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to prevent the sand entering her eyes.

"It looks like we haven't got a choice," he muttered, hoping that the storm would calm down enough soon so that they could get to the ruins. But Jin knew that was going to be a near impossibility."

Wordlessly, the two of them began to make their way across the sandy ground, shifting beneath them with every step. Nina was cursing, wishing that she had more suitable footwear on than those heeled boots that she had on at the current moment, but there was no time to change since she was the one that opened her mouth unintentionally and blurted out Jin's plans to Anna and they had to leave the country before Kazuya.

'I shouldn't have let my anger overcome me like that,' she thought angrily, trudging through the sand. 'And now my feet and ankles are suffering because of it.'

Next to her, Jin sensed her discomfort and caught her arm as the blonde woman began to lose balance, wincing as a pain radiated from her left ankle. He raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him, the stunning features on her face scrunched up together as she winced in pain.

"Maybe you should consider more suitable footwear next time," he told her. "I don't even know how you can fight in those things."

Nina chuckled lightly and painfully tried to stand up on her own.

"You should try it some time, it's not an easy thing to master."

Jin shook his head and reached down to grab behind the woman's knees and lifted her up, holding her bridal style and continued to walk towards the villa.

"I think I'll pass, I want to keep my feet attached to my ankles for the time being."

It was strange, for Nina to be carried like this, but it was comforting at the same time and it made her think back to another time of her life. The last person to carry her like this was her father, the only other man that was in life that she loved. She remembered him doing this on several occasions, especially when she was a young child and had fallen asleep on her father's lap while he read her a passage from one of the books that he owned. But there and then, in those strong arms of Jin Kazama, it brought back a memory that seemed to be long forgotten…

_The young blonde girl of about twelve was being carried by her father through a park near their house. They were coming back from a lesson in which Nina attempted a move that Richard was teaching her and rolled her ankle in the process, causing her to be in too much pain to support her own weight. His arms grew heavy with fatigue after a while and settled his daughter on the wooden park bench nearby carefully before sitting down next to her, his breaths sounded exhausted._

"_You've really grown," he said after a short while. "I could tell by the strength that you put into your training."_

_The girl looked up at her father with pleading eyes. _

"_I'll get better, I promise," she spoke in a small voice. _

_The man laughed and placed his arm around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her in close. The pounding of his heart against her ear soothed her, making her forget about the pain in her left ankle._

"_You could never disappoint me, Nina," Richard spoke softly. "No matter what you do, just remember that you have your father's support. I'm proud of you…just promise me one thing." _

_The young girl sat up off her father and looked at him. There was a look of uncertainty on his face, something that Nina never had seen before._

"…_Promise me, that if anything ever happens to me that you take care of your mother and sister," he explained, his forehead creased slightly. "I know that I may have been hard on Anna, but I don't want her to follow my path, I want to her to live a better life. But you, Nina…use the training that I've provided, become stronger and protect your family. Just like me, I know deep down you love your sister, but just afraid to let it show."_

_The blue eyed girl slowly nodded and gripped her father around the waist, burying her face into the chest and allowed silent tears to stain the front of his black sweatshirt. Richard held Nina in one arm and they remained that way, as if they never wanted to leave that moment as if it would be their last. _

* * *

_Present Day…_

The door to the villa opened and Jin walked in carefully with Nina, who had managed to doze off, her face protected by the open flaps of his coat and the beating of his heart had managed to soothe her into a light sleep. Quietly, the door closed with a soft click and he made his way to the red leather couch on the far side of the mud-bricked room, kicking his shins into a wooden coffee table before eventually making it over there. Ignoring the small pain in his shins, Jin laid the woman down and stood up, looking out the window and saw how quickly the flying sand grew into a full blown sandstorm within minutes.

'Maybe my father will hold off going to the ruins until the storm clears,' he thought and looked back down to the sleeping woman. 'She looks peaceful when she sleeps, but I don't understand how she could fall asleep while I carried her through that wind before.'

He sat down on the coffee table across from the couch and rested his forearms onto his knees, leaning forward and groaned a little at the slight tension that he felt in his neck and in between his shoulder blades. It was surprising that either of them had managed to stay awake, neither of them had slept since the night before Nina brought Anna and Hwoarang in for questioning. It was obvious that the two of them were tired, sore and worried. Tired from the lack of sleep, sore from the fighting that they had recently endured and worried about what was to happen.

Jin stood up and wandered over to the small kitchen nearby, opening the freezer and pulled out a small bag of ice.

'I think I should put this onto her ankle just to stop the swelling.'

Quietly, but quickly he made his way back to Nina's sleeping form and sat down on the table again. He reached out to her feet and rolled up her pant leg enough to reach the zip of her boot and pulled it down before carefully removing the item and then continued the task on the other leg. Setting the bag onto her left ankle, which was lying on top of her right, he carefully placed it over the injury and allowed his fingertips to graze the soft skin for longer. His touch was feather-like, hovering and barely touching as he ran his fingertips along her toned calf muscle before moving higher to rest on her thigh.

'She's the innocent one in all this,' he thought and looked gingerly to the Devil mark on her exposed forearm. 'All she did was her job and it resulted to be turned into the very thing that I'm out to destroy.'

A moment later, Jin was startled by the soft touch of another's hand, slender fingers entwined with his own.

"Jin…"

The raven-haired man looked up, his chestnut brown gaze met her sapphire blue ones, half-opened as she looked at him in wonder.

"I fell asleep, didn't I?"

Jin nodded slowly and sat up straight as Nina did, wincing as the muscles between his shoulders tightened. Nina saw this and gripped the side of his arm.

"Are you ok?" she asked with a gentle voice.

"Just a bit tight in the shoulders, that's all."

She nodded and stood up.

"Ok, I'm feeling a bit hungry at the moment, so I'm going to look in the kitchen for something," Nina announced and stood up. "You should go and rest for a little while and see if that'll help the tension."

Jin nodded and took his place on the comfortable sofa. It wasn't long before sleep overcame him and closed his eyes, succumbing to the awaiting darkness.

* * *

_Time: 2010hrs_

_Heir of the cursed blood, I sense that you are close_

_Come and find salvation from your curse_

_I shall provide you deliverance from this damnation _

_Come before me and allow me to give you what you have longed to seek…_

"_Jin, wake up."_

Eyes flickered open slowly, met by the stinging sensation of the lights above. Jin groaned as he rubbed his forehead and began to sit up slowly, the tension in his shoulders still present, radiating up into his neck. He noticed that he was still on that couch, watching as Nina knelt down behind him and reached out to knead the tight muscles in his neck with the tips of her fingers.

"You're tense," she stated and pressed down even harder, making the man wince. "Is something bothering you?"

He sighed, shaking his head gently.

"No, just a bit sore from earlier," he replied. "Also the fact that we were on a jet for several hours doesn't help either."

The assassin stopped her motions and stood up, looking outside the window and out into the darkness. Night had fallen and the storm was still there, howling fiercely and was grateful that they didn't go to the ruins until it would clear.

"You were out for a while, must have been exhausted," Nina said and looked down upon him. "I have some food leftover from earlier if you want to eat."

Jin shook his head and stood up in front of her, turned to face the woman and gently placed his hands onto her arms.

"No thank you, I'm not really hungry at the moment."

The blonde woman nodded in acceptance and motioned her head to the hallway.

"Well, I think I'm going to grab a shower before bed," she announced. "The idiots only had one installed here, so if you want one you'll have to wait or you can come and I'll try to loosen the tension in your neck and shoulders."

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to sleep well with that tension, Jin nodded and started to follow her down the small hallway and into the last room on the right. He closed the door behind him and stood there, watching as his bodyguard turned on the showerhead and allowed the water to start heating up and began to unzip her black jacket. Nina stopped midway as she felt a familiar set of eyes gazing at her and she couldn't hide the smirk as it formed on her lips and she looked up at him.

"Well, are you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to get undressed?"

Awkwardly, Jin slipped off his coat and allowed it to fall onto the ground and started to unbutton his shirt. As he performed this motion, he couldn't help but to catch a glimpse of Nina revealing more skin as each layer of clothing was removed, down to the point of where she was only wearing a white bra and matching underwear, turning herself around as she reached back for the clip.

How did he get so lucky, to have such a stunning woman to love him? It scared him, he was about to miss one of the best things that had happened to him just so that he could rid himself and Nina of the Devil Gene. He would sacrifice himself and grant Nina her life back, without him. It finally got to the stage where it was hurting him, he knew that she was going be hurt by losing him and that was something he never wanted to see.

'I guess you can't control the people that you fall in love with,' he thought, kicking off his shoes and socks. 'She'll be fine, she's strong.'

The two of them finally managed to remove the last items of clothing and stepped into the shower, sliding the glass door shut and Jin found himself under the hot spray as it hit his back. Nina took no time in starting to massage between his shoulders and begun to release the knots of tension that were built up. The raven-haired man groaned softly as he closed his eyes and gave into her touch, the soreness from his neck disappearing and allowed his muscles to relax. He had to admit, for a woman to be such a deadly weapon she really did have that soft touch. Sure she was all toned muscle with a killer instinct, but the smoothness and the softness of her skin, her touch was enough to tell anyone otherwise.

After a short while, Nina stopped and allowed her hands to fall limply by her sides and found herself gazing at the toned, sculpted muscles of Jin's back and shoulders. She traced every single line and contour, wondering how much work it had taken him to get the form that he had now. Heihachi probably trained him hard during every waking moment of every day until the old bastard betrayed him. Sighing, she rested her forehead against his back and quickly looked up as he turned to face her under the running water of the steamed-out shower. His eyes bore into hers, seeing the cornucopia of beauty that was there, reaching out to the soul within.

Jin reached around to the back of her head, gripping gently onto the base of her ponytail and slowly started to pull off the band that held her hair into place. Her eyes her half-open, lips parted and her whole-being at that moment was sending out waves of seduction, temptation was setting. Her wet, golden lock fell and gave her the look that of a goddess and Jin ran his fingers through the hair and gripped gently at the back of her head. Nina rested her hands on his well-defined chest and reached up, claiming his lips gentle and soft, biting onto the bottom lip. The man responded and reached down to grip her hips, pulling her closer to his body and allowed Nina to wrap her arms around his neck, deepen the kiss.

Already she could feel him growing hard from the contact, brushing up against her mid-section and she heard him elicit a deep groan as the assassin wrapped her right leg around his left side and pulled him even closer if that was even possible. Jin reacted to this and reached down to grab her other leg and hoisted her up with ease, her legs wrapped around his waist as she was pinned up against the wet, white shower wall.

Their embrace wasn't anything harsh or full of furious passion, but something of meaning, longing and love. It was a different feeling compared to other times, reacting to each other as if it was going to be their last night…well it was just that ironically if Jin was to face that beast the next day, but neither of them wanted to think about Azazel, Kazuya or anything else at the moment, they just wanted to be lost in each other.

Jin broke the kiss and started to nibble along the underside of her jaw and down onto her neck, causing the woman to grip his shoulders tighter and moaned his name.

"Jin…oh God!"

She moaned even louder once her lover moved on from her collarbone and into the valley between her breasts, teasing the undersides while he removed one hand and reached down slowly to the waiting heat between her legs and began to tease, noticing how she was ready for him.

"Fuck!" Nina cursed as she felt his touch and bucked her hips. "Jin…please…"

Removing his hand, Jin gripped the slender waist and positioned himself at her entrance, gazing into her eyes as if he was waiting for her permission. Nina opened her eyes, having to had them closed while he continued to tease her, she gazed back and nodded before he thrust into her in one motion and she moaned loudly, digging her nails into his shoulders. Jin began to move slowly, watching Nina's face as it tensed in pleasure, her chest heaving as her body begged for release.

Moans and groans filled the entirety of that tiny white room, the two of them slowly climbing toward boiling point. Jin knew that neither of them would hold out for much longer and decided to pick up the pace, moving faster and Nina rocked in rhythm and met his movements. She felt herself growing close, her lower muscles tensing around him and eventually Nina hit her peak, crying out his name as she came. It wasn't long until he fell over the edge, groaning her name.

The white flash of ecstasy soon passed, coming down their combined high as the boiling passion soon subsided. Carefully, Jin withdrew himself and allowed Nina to touch the ground with her feet. He had his back turned to her as he began to wash himself, but then she turned him around and kissed him once more.

Afterwards they managed to get themselves into the bedroom, their naked bodies covered by red silk sheets and their limbs were entangled with each others. They faced each other as Jin held onto her left hip, her hand over his and they met and brief, but passionate kiss before they pulled away to gaze at each other. They really wanted to stay like this, but the couple knew that they couldn't. Jin had to destroy himself and end the Mishima bloodline and to save the world that had fallen to the mercy of the Devil Gene so that no one would be hurt by it ever again. It was hurting Nina, even though she didn't want to say but she knew that it had to be done and she was still willing to help Jin to see his plan through despite the consequences.

"How's your ankle?" he asked her tenderly, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

She smiled and sighed lightly.

"Still a little sore," she replied and moved her foot seductively up his calf. "But it'll pass, it's just an old injury that I had since I was a child."

Jin nodded, not saying anything. He began to wonder what was to happen to the Zaibatsu when he sacrificed himself. Heihachi would probably try to regain control, leaving the world in just as much chaos as it already was in and forever clashing with his son. No, Jin didn't want the world to remain in despair and there was only one person he could trust to clean up the mess that he had created.

And she was right up next to him.

"Nina," he said her name in an almost whisper. "I want you to do something for me."

She nodded and allowed him to continue.

"I want you to take over the Zaibatsu once I'm gone and call off the war," Jin explained slowly. "There'll be no reason to keep it going once Azazel is defeated."

"I will, Jin," Nina replied. "I'll make sure that all this mess is cleaned up after…" A silent tear rolled down her cheek.

Gently, Jin removed his hand from her hip and brushed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"I love you, Nina," he whispered, hovering over lips. "Thank you for everything that you've done for me, I don't think that I would have gotten this far without you."

Nina looked at him, clinging onto every word that came out of his mouth.

"Jin, I love you too," she replied, her voice quiet. "Thank you for showing me how to love and trust again and for that, I'm grateful."

They smiled at each other and closed the gap between them, Jin rolled on top and Nina gripped his shoulders as they began to lose themselves to each other in the midst of the howling desert storm outside their sanctuary.

* * *

A/N: There we go, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone and hopefully I'll see your reviews and that you all continue reading my stories during 2012. Until next time :)


	23. Unleashing the Devil Within

A/N: Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I last updated. I apologise for this, the chapter should have been done a long time ago but I've been busy with university and have been dealing with injuries over the past few months. I have managed to find time to finish this chapter, which is the longest one of this entire story, the end will feature the ending cutscenes of S.C, but it'll be the last one. But regardless of that, the chapter is mostly of my own created content and dialogue, even the thoughts of the characters during the scenes used from Scenario Campaign. Anyway, here is the latest chapter and hopefully this one would have been worth the wait :)

Warnings: Implied character death, spoilers of the end of the game.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco, as well as some of the dialogue and setting used in this chapter, they had been borrowed for this fic and I do not claim to have created them.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Unleashing the Devil Within  
**

_May 14th 2008_

_Location: Somewhere Near the Ruins_

_Time: 0945hrs_

It was safe to say that neither of them were granted any sleep, the dark rings underneath their eyes was proof of that. Eyelids felt heavy, yet open at alert with the anticipation that was to come. Far below the helicopter that they were in, it was easy enough to detail the amount of damage that the storm had caused overnight. Many of the desert settlements were succumbed to sand, market stalls ruined and vehicles were upturned, even some of the roofs of the buildings were torn off, probably ended up a mile or two in all directions.

Nina grimaced a little at the sight and looked away, favouring the view of the interior of the chopper instead. She had hoped to catch up on the missed sleep from the night before. But just as she was to doze off just a few hours ago, the phone rang…

_Three Hours Ago…_

_Her head rested against that muscular chest, her body pressed up tight by a strong arm and the calm breathing of Jin began to lull her to sleep. Nina looked over to the clock on the bedside table and realised that it was just breaking dawn, catching a glimpse of sunlight that had crept through the gap in the red silk curtains. She chuckled a little at this, she hadn't slept at all and she knew that Jin too was awake, the stroking of his hand up against her bare skin of proof of that. _

_It had seemed that neither of them wanted to sleep, to give into that world of unconsciousness. Instead, they chose to fight the temptation and gave into one another throughout various stages of the night, every touch of bare skin on bare skin sparking a jolt of electricity between them and triggered the motions. The result, two sweaty, heaving bodies that held on to dear life and eventually wound down to the point of talking. _

_Jin didn't want to think out Azazel or what was to happen, he just wanted to spend whatever time they had left together to talk and to be in each others arms wide awake. Unfortunately, just as dawn broke that damned phone of his rang. Nina cursed under her breath and allowed herself to sit up while Jin reached over to the nightstand to answer the call._

"_Speak."_

_Nina sighed and fell back, her head landing onto the pillows. She allowed herself to breathe deeply and shut her eyes. Somehow she could sense that it was something bad, and usually these feelings would usually be right. _

"_Right, we'll be right down," Jin spoke into the phone. "Have the chopper ready." _

_He closed the phone and carefully placed it onto the nightstand. By then, Nina was leaning up onto her elbows and looked at him as if she knew what was happening._

"_It's the G-Corp, isn't it?" _

_The raven-haired man nodded, running a hand through his hair._

"_Yes, there're on the move as we currently speak," he explained. "If we leave now then we might just beat them to the ruins, but we have to go now." _

_She nodded slowly and with a frustrated sigh she got up, her feet touching the ground and stood up. Nina knew that the sleep will have to wait until afterwards, well that's if she would be able to sleep knowing full well about what she was going to lose if they were to succeed…_

Ahead in the distance, a familiar structure came up into their visual range. Mocking them from afar as the voice of that haunting entity filled through their minds like some distant memory that would not just go away. To Nina, she felt fearful when she first started to hear the voice of Azazel, but at that present point it was just plain fucking annoying as she was constantly hearing it and sometimes he would repeat things like a broken record player.

How in the world did Jin manage to put up with all this? Dealing with the Devil inside constantly taunting him, attempting to twist his mind to make him succumb to the darkness that he was warring against, it would drive any normal human to the point of insanity. Well it was obvious that the raven-haired man beside her was no ordinary human, curse by the genetics of his family bloodline, that destiny was unavoidable. But for her, a woman that had survived many traumas and had killed many to result in the hardening of her heart, it was safe to say that Nina Williams was no ordinary human female and if this whole experience hadn't made her stronger, then anyone that would doubt that would be fooling themselves.

The buzzing of her earpiece rang through the blonde woman's ears, heightening her senses even further and she pressed a tiny button to allow transmission.

"_We're at the temple, hostile forces are on the offensive and two unknown assailants are also decimating our numbers."_

"Hold on, we've got the ruins in our line of vision," Nina replied and released the button before allowing herself a small smirk and craned her head towards Jin. "Looks like Lars has joined in on the fun, do you really think he's after Azazel?"

Jin snorted and pulled out his communicator.

"All troops, focus your firepower on G-Corp hostiles, ignore the assailants. They are the least of our problems." Jin pocketed his communicator and crossed his arms. "Even if he does kill him, he'll only be resurrected shortly after. As I have said awhile ago, only someone with the power of the Devil Gene can successfully kill him, which is something that I have and can control."

The assassin sighed lightly and looked out of the chopper as it began its descent. From above, the fire fight was very clear and intense. Along the ground were the bodies of soldiers from both sides, their very blood stained the stone path that led into that cursed place. So many lives lost, the soldiers had no idea that the conflict was really to awaken the beast that had slumbered within these ruin for centuries, only to be destroyed in order to save the world.

Gunfire rang throughout her ears as the aircraft landed and Nina was about to open the door until she stopped, realising that it was too dangerous for Jin to be in that place while there was so much gunfire. It was up to her to stop Lars and Kazuya from reaching Azazel, the Tekken Force should be able to take care of the hostile G-Corp forces.

"Jin, maybe you should stay somewhere safe until the gunfire has cleared up a bit," she suggested, turning to him.

"No, we'll go together," Jin protested. "I'll be fine. No army is going to stop me from carrying out my plans. Everything has finally come together."

Nina nodded and wordlessly the two of them climbed out of the chopper, which then took off without warning and out of the danger-zone. Upon setting their feet onto the grounds of destruction, it was much clearer to them in terms of the toll that the battle had taken on both armies.

Gunfire flew past them, missing the top of Jin's head by a few inches. Quickly, Nina grabbed his arm and dragged the raven-haired man behind her as she searched for cover, legs pumping hard as they ducked and weaved through the midst of the battle. With an eye like an eagle, the assassin found a fallen stone pillar up ahead and she let go of Jin's arm.

"Run for that pillar, I'll cover you!"

Jin did as he was told to, separating himself from his bodyguard and slid himself underneath the solid structure. It was defiantly clear that Kazuya was out for blood and Jin figured that out by the way that the G-Corp troops had instantly turned fire on him. So did this mean that Kazuya was there too?

'Looks like he's going all out to try and stop me,' he thought. 'Pitiful, like some army is going to stop me from reaching Azazel.'

"_You can kill them all,"_ Devil Jin spoke in his mind. _"Unleash the power of the Devil and send these mortal men to the depths of hell!" _

He looked back up to the battlefield. Nina was still out there, two pistols were drawn and she was running to avoid getting hit. She knocked down an enemy far away, before she spun around and snapped a high roundhouse into the neck of one that attempted to creep up from behind. Jin figured that it was the Devil's power that allowed her to heighten her senses even further and was able to detect that soldier.

'It's a beautiful sight,' he thought. 'I have never met anyone that could handle themselves in a battle like she's doing.'

It was true. It was an absolutely stunning sight. Nina moved elegantly with each movement, while being lethal at the same time. Gracefully spinning around her targets and fired her shots or to deliver that fatal blow with a hand or a kick, it was like she was dancing a dance where she would move on from one person to the next. Enemy soldiers fell, one after another and the Tekken Force began to muscle in on the action, to gain the upper-hand and stop more of the G-Corp soldiers from entering the temple. To say that Nina looked beautiful and stunning at that point of time would be quite an understatement. It was a sight of such divinity that it could be said that she was like a goddess of war. Immortal and knows nothing else but how to fight, while never losing that beauty that formed her flawless exterior.

"_I know that you want to be out there,"_ Devil Jin said. _"Go on, get out there and wipe them out. My other half is screaming for me, let's unleash our full power!"_

The raven-haired man's last bit of self-control snapped and he emerged from his shelter. A strange smoky fog formed around him as he slowly made his way into the battlefield once again, only to notice that Nina was too being consumed by the fog and wrapped around her body.

She stopped and looked at him. Jin's eyes were not the normal brown colour that she had grown used to seeing, but they were glowing red like the times that he had unintentionally seized her and threatened to cause her harm. Gasping, she held a gun up to eye level and in that cold, black metal she saw her own reflection. Her eyes too were glowing red, the Devil was stirring within and the assassin dropped the weapons from her hands as a strange purple aura engulfed her hands. The pistols were forgotten as they laid upon that stone ground and her eyes made direct contact with Jin's as he stopped in front of her.

"Jin…"

"Nina, let it go and let the power guide you," he replied, voice slightly distorted from the Devil. "Unleash the great power from within lay down a path for us to follow to relinquish the beast Azazel."

Soon enough, the blonde woman began to lose grip of the world around her, feeling the Devil's presence growing stronger.

"_Yes…that's it. Let me guide you," _Devil spoke to her. _"You can control me, but let me use your body and let us send these pitiful mortals to their graves!"_

The two Devils nodded and turned their attentions back to the battle. Times flow slowed down to the point where everything was nearly frozen to the spot as the two of them moved at unprecedented speed. They drove kicks and punches, threw the enemy soldiers like ragdolls into pillars and into the air with inhuman strength and power. Indeed, the power of the Devil within was well and truly awake and soon enough the G-Corp soldiers began to retreat, dragging with them the various wounded comrades along as fast as they could, they weren't able to stand a chance. The enemy was completely wiped out, and the remaining Tekken Force soldiers stood there for a moment to look around before moving on towards the temple entrance.

Time returned to normal as Jin and Nina ceased movement and the latter collapsed onto her hands and knees in exhaustion. Devil had drained her and she felt weak in the knees, she wasn't strong enough to control the power that she was cursed with. Jin could see that and knew that he had to end this. What if Nina was to have a complete transformation, would it kill her? Jin wasn't prepared to find out that answer. He survives the transformations because of the Mishima blood that flowed throughout his entire being, while Nina acquired the entity because it escaped Kazuya's weakened body and sought out the next strongest living soul.

Azazel had to be found and destroyed. Otherwise not only the world will succumb to darkness, but Nina will be forever cursed and Devil will eventually kill her. No, Jin would not have it. He wasn't prepared for her to die from the curse. Jin knew that the only way for the assassin to survive was to keep her from going anywhere near Azazel.

He knelt down beside her and tilted her face up, her eyes had returned to that familiar blue colour. She was shaking, she was scared. Jin couldn't blame her for being like that. He had to admit that after his first transformation where the Devil Gene saved his life, the young man was scared of the power that he possessed and feared that he would eventually take an innocent life because he couldn't control himself when he became Devil Jin. But, he allowed that fear in combination with his brewing hatred for anything related to the Mishima Bloodline to drive him to learn to control it. Eventually to the point where he wanted to exact revenge on Heihachi, killing him and Kazuya before taking his own life.

But if he did that, would that really end it all? No, it wouldn't. Azazel would have awakened and the world would be gripped in never-ending chaos that threatened to destroy all existence, a darkness that would have been unimaginable. However, it was when Jin first heard Azazel, he made his choice that the only way to truly stop the terror was to kill Azazel, along with himself and to prevent the Devil Gene to bring anymore harm to innocent people.

Jin gripped onto her upper arm and assisted with her standing onto her feet.

"Are you ok?"

The blonde gave a slow nod and crossed her arms.

"I…I can't remember anything," Nina replied, her voice shaking. "Just that I was starting to lose control of myself and then…everything just turned to black."

"That was Devil taking over your consciousness," Jin explained, as he recalled the various situations where the Devil Gene took control of him. "I used to wake up in places and not knowing how or when I got there." He took a deep breath and gently reached out to lightly touch her arm. "Nina, I think it'll be better if you stay away from Azazel, you obviously can't handle the power and he will try and enrage you enough to make a complete transformation."

Nina shrugged his hand off her and turned around. No, she wasn't prepared to let it end that way, to say goodbye like that and send Jin off to his death sentence. She had promised him that she would stay with him until the end, damning the consequences. Just like that night by the fireplace all over again, she felt the tears build up in her eyes and began to fight them. Of course, Jin could sense that something was wrong and spoke softly.

"Nina, please do this for me, I can't bear the thought of losing you because of this curse. Maybe you could go and help the troops to eliminate the rest of the enemy."

The assassin knew from the time that Jin had initially told her about Azazel and the Devil Gene that this was going to place him onto death row, so why was she feeling like she was about to snap? Everything from her past…the death of her father, her mother, being betrayed by a fellow team member and the chance of never seeing her son grow up, everything. It all came rushing back to her and had hit her hard like a tidal wave, the fear of being alone and getting herself attached to people. All these emotions that she had kept locked up inside for all these years, heated up to boiling point and finally the cord of tension snapped.

She spun around and glared daggers at him.

"What about bearing the thought of losing me? How the hell do you think I'm feeling right now, huh?" she finally snapped. "You're the one that's about to let it end like this and go on to kill yourself. Fuck, Jin! I have spent every waking minute since you first told me of your plan, worrying about what was going to happen and praying to God that this day wouldn't come up so quick."

The man was taken aback as Nina's words hit him and she continued her onslaught.

"I was fine about it at first, but as time grew closer to this day the fear began to sink in. I've been protecting your ass since day one, knowing the risks to my own life. I have known about you and your damned family curse since the third tournament!" She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes a little further. "Tell me Jin, why should this situation be any fucking different?"

The raven-haired man sighed and ran a hand through his black locks.

"Azazel wanted me from the start and that's how it's going to end," he replied, voice steady and firm, full of determination. "You just happened to be an innocent victim in all this, just like thousands and thousands of others. Unlike me, if you make a full transformation, it could kill you. I have learned to control it, but you never up until now experienced any of the power that Devil possesses."

Quickly, Nina turned her back to him and crossed her arms under her chest.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you that I loved you," she said and sighed. "Maybe if I didn't do that, then maybe this wouldn't have to hurt so much. Every time that I get attached to people, they get taken away from me and I can't let this happen again."

"Nina, what are you saying?" Jin asked, his eyes were widened slightly.

She didn't turn back around to face him, but looked up to the sky and closed her eyes, gathering the strength and courage for what she was about to say next.

"I'm sorry Jin, but I think we're done here," she managed to get out. "I can't be around here if you're going to do this…goodbye."

Wordlessly, she started to walk off, in direction of the desert. Jin stood there, jaw dropped and eyes wide. He couldn't believe that Nina was actually walking away from him, and it was because he was pushing her away as he thought he was protecting her. It was meant to be the other way around, Nina was meant to be the one protecting him, it was her job after all.

"Nina!" Jin shouted after her. But his words fell on deaf ears and soon enough, Nina was out of his line of vision as she walked down those stairs and out of his life.

Inwardly, he cursed himself, the Devil Gene and his entire family. This was the final straw and he turned around to face the temple, it was time to end it all. Jin began to walk towards it, but stopped once his communicator buzzed. He grabbed it out his pocket and held it up to his ear.

"_Boss, Kazuya Mishima and the G-Corp hostiles have retreated and Azazel is dead inside the chamber, presumably by Lars and his partner, what are your orders?"_

Jin grinned slightly, and looked up into the sky.

"Leave them, I'll deal with them myself. Retreat your men out of the temple and prepare to depart back to base," he replied and then remembered Nina, walking alone out in that desert. "If you see Nina Williams in the desert, pick her up and take her back to the Zaibatsu."

"_Yes, sir!"_

Pocketing the communicator, Jin crossed his arms and watched the entrance to the temple. He knew for a fact that Azazel couldn't really be dead, only someone that possesses the Devil Gene is capable of destroy the beast.

'I'm waiting for you Lars, you are ready to fight me after all.' He thought and pulled out his phone and pressed a button that appeared on the screen. 'But let's see if you can handle another round with Alisa.'

* * *

_Near the Temple Entrance…An Hour Later_

"There's no chance now for Jin to destroy Azazel," Lars mentioned to Raven, as they walked towards the entrance to the temple. "Which means there is only one thing left to do…to find Jin and finish this once and for all."

The dark-skinned man nodded and then stopped walking. Something about this didn't feel right to him, like a bad premonition. Did Lars really stop Azazel and prevented him from turning the world into pure entropy? Raven swore that he saw a strange glow inside Azazel just as they were leaving, but it wasn't anything to worry about, was it? Either way, what's done was done and Azazel was lying motionless on the ground inside his chamber and Jin couldn't possibly have any chance to carry out what he had set out to do originally.

"Just remember, this man is no ordinary human being," he explained, causing Lars to stop at the entrance. "He will not go down that easy. He may be a Kazama, but he has Mishima blood. They are stubborn as hell and are cursed with strength so superhuman, that they could wipe out an entire army single-handed."

The blond-haired man closed his eyes and recalled his encounter with Heihachi. The two of them had fought, matched by strength and power to the point that neither of them would fall. Then there was his first encounter with Jin, the Swedish man felt a surge of power flow through his veins when they struck each other, like there was a deep connection between the two men. Lars didn't want to believe it at first, but after meeting with Kazuya just earlier, it was confirmed that Lars himself was a Mishima by blood. He may lack the Devil Gene like Heihachi and now Kazuya, but there's that inhuman strength and speed that came along with that bloodline.

Indeed, Lars found himself both blessed and cursed at the same time. He had the power to overpower Azazel, but with the aid of dirty blood.

"I have Mishima blood inside of me," Lars told him, raising his hand and closed it into a tight fist as electricity sparked. "I will defeat Jin Kazama and bring an end to this accursed war. He needs to be brought to justice and I will gladly be the one to give it to him."

The former soldier walked on, with each step brimmed with determination. It was like that there was nothing in the world that was going to stop him. This was it, his final showdown with Jin Kazama, the very man that had erupt the entire world into chaos, inflicting war across it and spread its poison to every nation just to awaken some beast. This war, to Lars, meant in the sacrifice of thousands upon thousands of lives, all of which were a meaningless death just to satisfy the cravings of a monster that shouldn't even have existed in the first place.

He reached the daylight of the Egyptian sun and saw that the battle was long finished and ahead was a lone figure. Lars knew straight away that it was the man that he was after, and it was a task that he should do alone.

"Watch my back, keep an eye out for that bodyguard of his in case she tries to interfere," he told the other man, remembering the mark that recalled seeing on Nina's arm. "She's like him, no longer a normal human."

Raven nodded and continued walking beside the other man.

'You're mine, Jin,' Lars thought as each determined stride took him closer to his target. 'Time to end this.'

Eventually the men met in the middle, with Jin getting there first and crossed his arms as Lars approached him. He held a steady gaze, emotionless and quite the opposite of Lars, determined and full of fire and fury. The blond man stopped nearby and crossed his arms too, narrowing his eyes at Kazama and ready to speak, but Jin bet him to the punch.

"About time," Jin said and closed his eyes.

There was a brief silence and both men felt the tension in the air.

"You're all that's left," Lars spoke, breaking the tensioned silence.

Quickly, he began to move around, like in some sort of kata. Electricity sparked with every move and ended up in a fighting stance. Jin knew that it was time to fight and readied himself, electricity surrounded his body and at that moment Lars shook his head and charged. He brought a fist back as he approached and threw it out, only to have it stopped mid-flight. His eyes trailed up the hand, up the arm and to the shoulder to lead eventually to the face of the owner.

'Alisa!'

Alisa threw his arm back with force, making Lars come close to losing balance before she flew at him. Stumbling to the ground, he watched as the android came around and unleashed the chainsaw blades on her arms and came at him again just as he climbed up onto his feet. The blades swung horizontally and Lars bent backwards, narrowly missing the blades and back-flipped. He let out a sigh of relief and Alisa positioned herself between the two men.

Raven appeared out of nowhere and began to walk towards her, but was stopped momentarily as Lars outstretched his arm and shook his head. This was his battle and his alone. If it meant that Lars had to go through Alisa to get to Jin, then he had to do it alone. If Alisa was willing to sacrifice herself just to protect Jin, then Lars wouldn't want it any other way, even though he wished that it wouldn't had come down to this.

"You really don't know who I am," Lars told him.

At first, the ninja was confused, but then recalled what Lars said to him just moments ago.

"_I have Mishima blood inside of me…I will defeat Jin Kazama and bring an end to this."_

'I believe you can, you defeated Azazel,' Raven thought and nodded before he retreated.

"You are an enemy," Alisa stated and readied herself for battle. "Eradicating."

"Damn!" Lars cursed and got into fighting stance.

There was only going to be one survivor at the end of this, and he hated the thought of who it was going to be.

* * *

_Meanwhile, out in the Egyptian Desert…_

The sand shifted under her weary feet, dragging through it as the desert began to take its toll. Nina realised that her body was still exhausted from earlier, she was drained physically, emotionally and mentally. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to walk out in the heat of the moment, perhaps she should have waited out until the chopper came, but then again she had a communicator and could have called for transport back to the base. But, Nina couldn't think clear thoughts at the time, too swept up in the thought of watching Jin sacrificing himself to save the rest of civilisation.

She just wanted to get away from that place.

"_Well, what are you going to do now?"_ Devil taunted her. _"You're out in this desolate desert, and with nowhere to go."_

'Fuck you, why are you still here anyway?' Nina snapped. 'Shouldn't you be dead by now?'

"_Haha, don't be foolish! I can still sense Azazel's presence,"_ Devil replied. _"That fool Lars thought that he could defeat that beast and kill it, well he had failed and Azazel is growing even stronger as we speak."_

Nina stopped walking and she raised an eyebrow. So Lars reached Azazel and defeated him, but didn't manage to kill him. But, Jin was still waiting there, did he know that Azazel was growing in strength and was still alive? Surely, if the Devil inside of her could detect it, then wouldn't Devil Jin sense it too? What if…

"Oh God!" Nina gasped. "I need to warn him. If he's unaware of a possible resurrection, then he's…I've better get to him."

The assassin pulled out the communicator out of her pocket and started to head back towards the temple.

"Attention all choppers, this is Nina," she spoke into the device. "Any chopper still within vicinity of the temple please fly overhead and pick me up, I'm in the desert approximately a mile or two south. This is an emergency."

'I hope I'm not too late.'

* * *

_Back to the temple…_

Lars threw out a final strike, the electricity surrounded his hand. If he failed then it would mean the end of his life. His body was exhausted and gloved flesh met soft metal, the blond man felt wires snap and metal crunching as his fist drove straight into the android. It sent a shockwave within a small radius, and the dust was kicked up.

It was over…

The dust finally settled after a while, the aftermath was very visible. Lars opened his eyes and looked around. Jin was still there, he hadn't moved at all since the fight started. Raven was nowhere to be found, probably disappeared somewhere mid-fight and Lars ended up on the other side from where he was before. He was still standing, no visible injuries and everything seemed to be intact. Alisa was…

'No…what have I done?'

The android was on the ground, on her back and at his feet. Lars knelt down beside her and looked into her still open eyes, noticed that they had returned to the jade green colour that he was so acquainted to seeing. But, it was too late, the Alisa he knew was shutting down and there wasn't enough time in the world to save her. He still had one more thing to take care of.

"You win," Alisa told him, slowly rotated her head to gaze over. "I'm no match for you."

Her voice was weak, quiet and it felt like it was just the two of them in their own little universe. It was like the ending of a tragic love story, where one of the lovers had to die and the other one lives on only to carry their memory, inside forever and always. No, Lars never wished that it would end that way, but he had to do what he had to do if that meant reaching Jin, and he hated himself for it. He was about to say something, anything to comfort her during these last moments, but she continued on.

"I did not want to fight you." Lars looked at her, eyes fuelling with desire. "But I was created to protect Jin Kazama. I could not disobey."

Jin Kazama…everything had seemed to resolve around that man, and further fuelled Lars' hatred. If he needed protecting, why wasn't Nina there to do it? Lars had wondered why she wasn't around, usually she would be following him around like some lost puppy without its owner. It was very unusual and Lars suspected that something was wrong.

"Travelling with you was wonderful, I just wish it had lasted longer," the dying android continued, and then she said her final words to him and reached for him. "You treated me like a real person. It was nice."

Lars felt his jaw drop slightly, water built up in his eyes as he watched Alisa. She was reaching out for him, to give her the last bit of happiness that she wanted. He felt mixed emotions then, what if she was to turn and attack him? But his heart was telling him that side of her was gone, she was nothing more than a pawn to Jin's commands, against her own will. She wanted to be with him, to be with Lars this entire time. Perhaps, there was one last chance that he could say what he really felt.

Slowly and carefully, he reached for her hand. He was nearly there, but just as the hands were about to touch, Alisa's dropped and brushed past the tips of his fingers and dropped onto the ground beside her.

"Full system shutdown."

Alisa's eyes closed, she was gone. Her body had failed her and left Lars with his hand still in the air. It was exactly a like the ending to a tragic love story, because truth be told it was confirmed that it was possible for love to exist between an android and a human. Indeed, in their time together, Lars did fall for Alisa if it were possible for that sort of connection to occur, and she seemed to have a conscience just like him, to feel and think like a human.

Now, those thoughts of grief were slowly building up into anger, murderous even as the man that was responsible for everything was standing nearby. Lars began to stand up slowly as he looked into his hand.

"Good riddance."

Lars snapped his head up at Jin, narrowing his eyes. How dare he say such a thing when it was obvious that he was hurting from the loss of a close companion? Suddenly, the fire flared up once again.

"Say that again," Lars threatened, voice low and malice.

"I said good riddance to a worthless piece of junk," Jin repeated, voice not harbouring one ounce of emotion. Lars glared even harder. "What? Don't tell me you fell in love with it?"

"She's gone, because she tried to protect you."

Jin held his gaze at him. The people that served to protect him were gone. Alisa was shutdown on the ground, but she was nothing more than a puppet to him, strung from the strings that protruded from him and controlled every move that she made. Then there was the other one…

'Nina, she left because I wanted to protect her and it should have been her protecting me,' he thought. 'I was a fool, and now I don't mind sacrificing myself if that would take away the pain.'

"Of course she did," Jin replied. "She was designed to. I just thought she'd be better at it."

That was it, Lars was overcome with anger and rage. Now, he really wanted to make Jin pay for everything. For bringing the world into chaos by a pointless war, for killing his men, making him to cause Alisa to shutdown…he had enough.

Lars assumed his fighting stance, the blood of the Mishimas flowed throughout body, pumped into very limb and fuelling his rage.

"You…" Lars growled through clenched teeth. "I'm taking you down!"

Jin narrowed his eyes and got into position, this time he was ready to fight Lars. The former officer of his army was just the last bump in the road to take care of before he would face Azazel, the Devil Gene began to take control over his body.

"Come on, Lars," Jin said. "Show me what you've got."

Screaming, Lars charged at the demonic man, fist drawn back and in an instant it was thrown out with great power and speed. Jin moved to the side and blocked it, bring his leg up to do a front kick aimed at Lars' chest. The other man rolled to the side and attempted to sweep Jin's legs out from underneath, but failed as the latter jumped up high in the air and brought his fist down to where he was. The blond rolled backwards and up onto his feet before he ran forward. He swept his right leg up and attempted an axe kick to Jin's head, who then quickly crossed his forearms above his head and blocked it.

Jin grabbed the ankle and hurled Lars into a pillar nearby and chased after him. A powerful fist crunched into the target's midsection, causing the wind to be knocked out of him and start to grow light-headed. Lars was sprawled on the ground and Jin reached for him again and lifted him up onto his feet.

"I thought you were better than that, but obviously anger had clouded your judgement" Jin said in a low tone. "Pathetic, you're wasting my time."

He threw Lars back out onto the stone path where they had started.

"_Come on, get up. I know you can do it…" _A recognisable voice rang through his head.

'Alisa? Are you trying to reach out to me?' Lars thought, groaning in pain as he tried to hoist himself up. 'No…I can't give up, I just won't.'

"This isn't over," Lars said, as he rose to his feet. "I will not be defeat, especially to the likes of you."

Jin smirked and got back into his stance.

"Good, now give me everything you got."

The two men charged at each other and punched at each other, their fists connected in the middle and the ground shook violently as sparks of electricity flew between them. Then they traded kicks, their shins and feets connecting as they matched each other technique by technique, parry by parry as they moved in synch with each other like some beautiful dance. Jin's coat whirled around behind him as he spun around Lars, who had disappeared from sight, leaving him confused. Before he knew it, by the time he turned around it was too late. Lars struck him in the jaw with a punch, kicked into his left thigh and made his leg go dead before he drove a final punch into the midsection, making Jin collapse onto the ground. Jin tried to get up, but his body disobeyed and he remained knelt on one knee.

It was over, he was defeated. Jin sighed and closed his eyes as his he felt light-headed…

"'_And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.'"_ The voice of Zafina rang through his head, prompting his eyes to open.

He gasped a little as her words repeated again in his head, forcing him to say them aloud, from his own mouth.

"'And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,'" he repeated and slowly started to stand up. "How true."

Lars looked at him, confused. What was going on?

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Jin shook his head lightly and looked to Lars, seeing the confused gaze from his eyes. Of course, he wouldn't know what it meant since it was only spoken inside of Jin's head. But why was the voice of Zafina speaking to him? Could she enter into the minds of other and seek out their thoughts?

"It was that woman," Jin replied. "It was when I knew what the voice ringing in my head really was."

"Zafina?"

Jin nodded and looked away.

"Yes. But her story didn't add up," Jin continued. "Azazel had already awoken in spirit because of Kazuya and me."

Lars stood there in his thoughts for a brief moment, recalling the story that was said to him a while ago in the past. It was the prophecy of if the 'two evil stars' were to clash, then the beast Azazel would come to life and if his power was unleashed unto the planet, then the world would descend into entropy. It was unavoidable. No one could have seen it coming, except for Zafina. Unknown to Lars, it wasn't the war that stirred Azazel, it was the first encounter between Jin and Kazuya in the Honmaru during the fourth tournament that stirred the evil spirit.

"So you're saying his return was unavoidable?" Lars questioned, a little sceptical of what Jin was saying.

"Kazuya and I, were the key to that happening."

"He seemed powerful enough to me."

Jin paced around a little, preparing himself to tell Lars absolutely everything. His reasons for the war and about Azazel speaking to him in his mind, everything that had lead up to this current point in time was about to be brought out into the open.

"When Azazel spoke to me in my mind," Jin began to explain. "He said filling the world with negative energy, would give him physical form. That was the only way.

"So you started a freaking war?" Lars asked, exasperated. "Just to make it so you could fight him?"

"Yes," Jin answered, immediately and stopped Lars before he would bombard him with questions. "I had no choice. I have the Devil Gene."

Lars sighed and closed his eyes. He could understand why Jin wanted Azazel gone, but was the way he was going about it the right way? There could have been another path for him to follow to fill the world with negative energy and not to have the destruction that came with it. Lars felt disgusted to know that even though Jin knew that his plan to confront Azazel resulted in the sacrifice of the lives of thousands of innocent people, the deaths of soldiers and the destruction of nations around the world, just for his chance to fight some ancient spirit. What person could justify their actions? It was worse than a murderer trying to defend themselves for their crimes.

"And you think that justifies all the things you've done?" Lars questioned.

Jin sighed and stood still, closing his eyes for a moment. No, nothing could possibly act as a justification for what he did. Everyday, he live with the blood of other stained on his hands, innocent blood of people that had nothing to do with this and died for just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. If his mother was alive, she would be extremely disappointed in him, for what his has done.

Jin Kazama had truly fallen from the honourable man that he wanted to be, from what his mother Jun Kazama had raised him to become, and why? Because this cursed blood, the bloodline of the Mishima family that pumped through his veins. This fucking dirty blood controlled his thoughts, his emotions and his actions. He was afraid to get close to people in case that he would harm them, he came close to seriously hurting Nina on a couple of accounts.

'Nina…she paid the price in all this and became the thing that I'm trying to destroy.'

Nina was out there, Devil was unstable inside of her and it wouldn't be long until he would try to take full control over her. If he did that, then that power would surely kill her since her body cannot handle it. He was hesitant at first of being in a relationship with her, but never before in his life he could say that he was capable of love. They were both broken, both victims of the cruelty of the world and were drawn together from it. Jin was hurting inside since Nina left, he was in love with her and he had said that to her many times since she woken up from her second bout of cryosleep. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that she was in love to him as well, it was evident since she was scared to let him go and sacrifice himself.

But perhaps, love was a reason of which Jin was willing to die for. To save the world, and to give Nina a chance to live in the world that would result from his sacrifice. In a way, Jin would be seen as an anti-hero.

"Let me ask you, what have the governments, religions and people of this world accomplished?" Jin asked, looking at Lars with fire in his eyes.

"That's…"

"Up until now, people have lived in fear of those with power, and were ruled by an iron fist," Jin continued, taking a deep breath. "Who could possibly save such a twisted world?"

He paused for a moment and collected the rest of his thoughts, looking away.

"I wanted the two of us to clash, and destroy each other." Jin raised a hand to the front of his face and closed it into a fist. "Then, I could finally be free of this accursed blood in my veins, and the world would be saved. But there would be, only one chance."

"Bad news then, I already took him out," Lars informed him.

Jin looked at him then and narrowed his eyes.

"You understand nothing."

The ground beneath them shook violently, causing Lars to almost lose balance and his senses went into alert. What was going on? He didn't know and he looked over to Jin, who appeared calm and focused.

'He knows something, he just has to know what's going on,' he thought and then a loud noise drew his attention away from his own mind and towards the temple.

A large golden hand-like limb emerged from a newly formed hole that was in front of the stairs that led into the temple. Lars watched as the creature pulled itself out from the depths below the temple and in an instant, Lars was stunned and his eyes widened, gasping as the form of Azazel came into his vision, this time he was gold in appearance and looked stronger than before. He misjudged the entire situation, thought that all of the cards were in his hand, but they were in Jin's all along. Everything that the raven-haired man said before, it had ended up coming true. Maybe Jin was the only one that could stop Azazel, other than…

'So, she would have known all along too, maybe Jin kept her away so that she would be safe.'

"Impossible!" Lars exclaimed.

"Good. I've been waiting for this," Jin said and started to walk towards Azazel. "I told you before. Only someone with the Devil Gene can defeat him."

Azazel roared from the other side of the stone path.

"I exist in a higher plane than your earthly laws," Azazel explained in a language so ancient. "Now no one can stop me."

Jin stopped his movements and stared down the beast on the other side. This was it, this was the moment that he had been building up for over the past year. There was only one chance and he had to get it right. This was the time where he would need the assistance of the Devil and lose consciousness from his human spirit.

"No one, except me," Jin announced, loud enough to reach the other end.

"Fool! You will destroy yourself as well!"

A strange purple aura surrounded Jin's hands, as he raised them to cross in front of his face. He began to feel his human self loosening its grip on his body as the Devil Gene began to take over. In his last moments of human consciousness, Jin's last thoughts went out to one person and one person only as he knew that she would hear his words.

'Nina, take care…I will always love you. Don't ever forget me, and live in a world free from cruelty.'

"Let's put an end to this!"

Quickly, he brought his hands back down, fists clenched and his entire form was engulfed in this strange purple foggy aura. Azazel shot three energy beams at him, all of which deflected away from Jin..

"What are you doing?" Lars shouted at him.

Jin never replied and began his charge at Azazel, screaming out a war cry. His scream grew louder as he picked up speed, the adrenaline pumped through him, combined with the power from the Devil Gene as he continued this run at an inhuman speed. White knuckled fist drew back as Azazel continued to shoot at Jin, but the purple fog surrounded him acted as a barrier and deflected off him.

Ten feet…seven…five…three…

Jin planted one solid foot onto the ground and unleashed a punch with strength so superhuman that it sent him forward, the white-knuckled tight fist landed square onto the chest of the golden beast. Azazel wailed a cry of anguish as he was propelled backwards, Jin's fist still connected and the two of them fell into the depths of that dark hole together, straight down into the depths of hell.

Meanwhile, Lars was still at that other end and couldn't believe what he had just seen. Jin really went through with it and suddenly a panicked thought entered his mind.

"Jin!" Lars called out and started to race up to the hole.

His legs burned as he tried to sprint, but the fight from before had worn him down and there was a possibility that he had some minor internal injuries. Lars felt himself start to slow down and it was eventually he reached the hole and peered down. Jin was long gone, along with Azazel and there was no way that either of them could possibly survive that kind of drop.

'It's done…it's all over.'

The ground shook a little and a bright white light appeared down inside and rose up to the surface. Lars took a few steps back from the edge and covered his eyes initially. The light turned into white beam of energy and reached up high into the sky. Eventually, Lars opened up his eyes and gazed into the light.

* * *

_Meanwhile, up in the sky…_

"What is that?" The pilot asked as he controlled the chopper.

Nina looked over to the white beam that protruded from the bottom of the temple as the chopper began its descent. She gasped as the realisation had hit her, Jin had already went after Azazel and he sacrificed himself. It was all over, Jin was dead.

'I…I was too late,' she thought and then scoffed. 'I...'

The chopper landed softly and in an instant, Nina had the door open and climbed out. She told the pilot to wait there and she started to walk towards the temple. There was a massive hole down by the bottom of the temple entrance and a lone person stood there, staring down into it. As each step brought her closer, there was no visible sign of Jin or Azazel anywhere, it was as if they were never there in the first place and disappeared off the face of the planet.

'He actually did it,' she thought. 'The moment that he prepared for, it all went according to plan and finally he can be freed from the Devil within…as will I.'

The clicks of the assassin's heels alerted the blond man of her presence and he looked around over to her, as she approached from behind and stopped next to him. Nina looked at him, gaze neutral to hide the loss that she felt and she didn't feel any hostility towards him. She was too exhausted to continue fighting anymore.

"You knew, didn't you?" Lars asked her.

Nina sighed lightly and gave a small nod, glancing quickly into the hole before at him.

"Yes, but what's done is done," she replied in a small voice. "Jin…Jin put everything into this one moment."

The blonde woman looked past him, into the distance as she struggled to keep it all together, she just wanted to scream. She felt a mix of emotions and was willing to let them all out somehow, whether if it was to breakdown and cry until her eyes were red and sore or to throw and break something out of anger. No, she still had a job to do and that was to keep her promise to Jin and to end the war and to pick up all the pieces.

"It's not for me to judge if he was right, or wrong," Nina continued and gazed over to Lars, her voice strong and firm. "Maybe you're such a saint, you think you can. But somehow, I doubt it."

Lars held his head down, as if he was a condemned man and felt Nina's eyes boring a hole into him. He quickly looked into her eyes, seeing that even though on the outside she was that strong woman that he's already known, her eyes said that she was grieving.

'Were they…were they in love with each other?'

Nina stared at him for a bit longer and turned to leave as she headed back to the chopper. There was tingling sensation that radiated from where her Devil mark was and she glanced down at it and stopped walking as she reached the door. The mark was still there, which could only mean…

'Devil is still here, that means…Jin's sacrifice was all for nothing,' she thought. 'Oh God, Jin! Fuck, the curse was meant to disappear with Azazel. How did this happen?'

"Miss Williams, is everything ok?" The pilot asked as the assassin climbed in.

Nina held back the tears as she closed the door and buckled up the belts. She didn't look at him, instead kept her gaze straight-ahead.

"Just get me out of here, alert the base to have a plane ready for me to leave for Japan as soon as we get back," she ordered. "I think we're finished here."

Outside, Lars watched as the chopper left and the only things that he would leave with were Alisa's body, the memory of Jin's sacrifice etched into his brain and Nina's lingering words echoing in his head.

"_Maybe if you're such a saint…But somehow, I doubt it…"_

'Maybe she's right, perhaps I'm not a saint after all. I'm just like everyone else and capable of evil,' he thought. 'Even a man such as Jin, who was raised by a mother who was the epitome of purity, was capable of bringing about the end of the world, but was able to offer his own live to save billions.'

He closed his eyes and looked up into the sky. It was all over and there were still some loose ends to tidy up. But the thing was, where to begin…

* * *

A/N: Well then, I know that a lot of you wouldn't have been surprised by the ending of this chapter. Ok, so here's the deal...there will be one or two chapters left to go and I will be writing up two possible endings, named Epilogue 1 and Epilogue 2 (they will have the same scenarios, but have different outcomes). The one with the biggest reaction or feedback will be the one that will become canon with the sequel and set the direction for the next fic. I should be starting on those chapters A.S.A.P and please leave your reviews. Until next time :)


	24. Epilogue I

A/N: Ok, since I had a lot of spare time today I thought that I'd do the two epilogues before I go back to university next week. Since I'm posting both of them up at the same, here's how this is going to work. There will be a one week window for you to post a review in response to your favourite/preferred ending, but do not post until you have read both of them. After one week, the epilogue that I believe has the biggest reaction in both reviews and the most amount of visitors within that time period will be selected as the canon ending that will set the formation for the sequel, while the other will act as a paradox-like ending. Simple, isn't it? Just thought instead of me going ahead and writing a sequel, that I'd leave the fate of the next fic in your (the readers) hands. Anyway, enjoy reading them :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Epilogue I- Three Months Later**

_Location: Cemetery- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil_

_Time: 1300hrs_

Never in her life had she seen the weather to be so gloomy and overcast, but she supposed that it was very fitting of what this day was to her. After months of searching, Christie had located her grandfather in a hospital in Rio. At first, she was excited that she had the chance to be reunited with her only known family, but as soon as she walked into that room, the joy vanished. The grandfather that she once knew was no longer there, instead was the shell that was connected to wires and tubes, machines beeped and supported this fragile life.

The doctors had told her that he was in a grave state, that there was a very slim chance that he would wake up and be the same man that he was before. Eventually, Christie had to make the decision. Of course, more than anything in the world, she wanted him to live and for everything to go back to how it was before his imprisonment. However, he would be in constant pain, suffering and Christie realised that perhaps that time had passed, maybe it was better for him to die peacefully than to live on.

The very next day, she informed the doctors to switch off the life-support and her grandfather died shortly after.

She looked up into the sky and closed her eyes as she was supported by Steve's arm wrapped around her shoulders, comforting her. Both were dressed in black, a veil covered Christie's face as she silently allowed a few tears to slip through. Her grandfather, was now buried six feet under, his spirit hopefully was in a better place.

To be honest, the Brazilian woman had expected Eddy to show up.

'Eddy…why did you do this? Did you really think that the technology of the Mishima Zaibatsu would save him?'

It didn't do anything. In fact, he wasn't even in that condition before he disappeared. Just what in the world was Eddy thinking?

"Christie, did you want to leave?" Steve asked, turning to her. "Because we can if you need to."

He ran his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the stray tears. While he stood there, Steve began to think about his mother. He'd imagine that what Christie was feeling would be exactly how Nina would be feeling.

The news about Jin had been released three months previous, shortly after the event occurred. It was Nina that released the information on live broadcast, announcing the end of the war and a personal apology for it occurring. She also stated that as the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, all troops will be involved in the clean-up of the destruction that the battle caused and it'll last for several months.

The woman in front of him shook her head. The blond man sighed softly and gathered Christie into his arms, holding her as she wrapped her arms around his torso as she silently wept into his shoulder. Over the months since the tournament, the two of them grew close and developed a relationship. Their interactions during the tournament was based nothing more than on a mutual friendship, but as it drew to a close and Christie's grandfather disappeared along with Eddy, that friendship sparked romantic interest from the comfort that Christie saw in Steve.

He didn't want to let him go.

"Please, just hold me," she whispered. "I…I want you to stay."

Steve closed his eyes and buried his face into the top of her head.

"Of course, I'll stay. I will never leave you."

From some distance away, a tall man stood behind a large gravestone. Like the couple embraced in front of the freshly flowered grave, Eddy was dressed in black and donned a pair of black glass to hide his eyes. Was this what he had been reduced to? To mourn for his mentor from a distance just because he couldn't face Christie, especially after what he did?

Deep down inside, he knew that it was for the best. She had Steve, and all Eddy wanted was for her to be happy even if was in the arms of another man. Even though the bounty for his head was lifted and he was a free man, Eddy didn't feel like one. He had killed numerous people throughout the war, including innocent people and soldiers that would have left families behind. No, with that weighing on his conscience he will never be a free man, the guilt was going to be something that Eddy will have to deal with for the rest of this life.

'I hope he'll be one to give you happiness,' he thought and gave a small smile. 'You deserve all the happiness in the world. Just…just I'm not the one who can give that to you.'

* * *

_Location: Millennium Tower- Kazuya's Office_

_Time: 0100hrs_

"What's the plan now?" Anna asked as she reached forward to grab her glass of red wine from Kazuya's outstretched hand. "Now with the war over, perhaps this will be our chance to take down the Zaibatsu."

Kazuya sighed and downed a mouthful of wine as he leaned up against the front of his wooden desk, in that darkened office. The war had been over for the past three months, his troops still suffered the aftermath. The final battle decimated the majority of his elite soldiers and the army wasn't strong enough to even take on a half-strength Tekken Force. It was evident that it would take a long time for G-Corp to rebuild before opposing the Mishima Zaibatsu again, but until that day comes it was time to allow the world to recover from the devastation.

"Not at the moment, the army is still weak," Kazuya replied and looked into his glass, smirking. "Anyway, I think that sister of yours will be staying away from war for quite a while, seems like she's got things of her own to be dealing with."

Anna chuckled and crossed her legs.

'Oh yes, my dear sister must be still grieving,' she thought, swirling around the contents of her glass in an elegant manner. 'I wonder whether if she's going to give the Zaibatsu up.'

"So you're going to wait, to see if she'll hand the Zaibatsu off?"

Chuckling, Kazuya stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk. He instantly received word about Jin just as he was leaving Egypt that day, then he watched the press conference presented by Nina. She confirmed that Jin Kazama was dead and giving a public apology, as well as an explanation of Jin's reasons for starting the war. Since that day, Kazuya had been waiting for the opportunity that Nina would leave the Zaibatsu and then he would seize control, to run both organisations for his own plot for world domination. He knew that somewhere, out there that Heihachi too was waiting for the same opportunity.

"If I can gain control of the Zaibatsu, then the world will be at my mercy," he explained. "Imagine it, no one would dare to oppose us and both armies will be combined. The world will be brought down onto its knees, I will have gained back the Devil's power and then…then no one can stop me."

"I know my sister, she wouldn't give up without a fight," Anna told him and stood up. "Why do you think she hadn't submitted to me yet in our battles?"

Kazuya smiled at her, recalling when Nina was captured and placed into cryosleep. He certainly remembered that the assassin had tried to fight off the guards as they dragged her down into the laboratory to be placed into the cryogenic tube, hell she was still kicking as she was being restrained down. Certainly, that sort of fighting spirit had to be admired, but was foolish enough to think she was capable to secretly get past an entire army and three bodyguards just to kill him.

There had to be a weakness of hers that they could use to their advantage. It was just the matter of trying to find it.

"Indeed, she is a stubborn one," Kazuya said after a while. "However, she has a weakness just like everyone else. Like mine is power…"

"And hers are her own memories," Anna finished and started to walk over to him. "I know for a fact when she began to recall the memories of her and our past she would succumb to be crippled with pain. It happened in the graveyard when we visited out father's stone."

Kazuya nodded and raised his glass, while Anna did the same.

"Here is to the beginning of a new dawn," Kazuya proposed a toast. "May our enemies fall to our mercy."

Anna gave a sweet smile and they tapped their glasses together.

* * *

_August 16th 2008_

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu- Military Compound_

_Time: 1130hrs_

The sky was grey and overcast, the base was in ruins and the troops were halved. But those factors hadn't stopped the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu from standing before the Tekken Force, up on that podium and lingered an icy blue gaze over the men. Her long, black leather coat flew behind her as she walked across that stage and stopped upon reaching the microphone, her long blonde hair was loose and ran down her back, cascading down like a waterfall. She was in black skirt, shirt and heels and had that look of determination set across her face.

Nina had been busy with her duties over the past few months since that fateful day. The day after returning from Egypt, she announced the end of the war and confirmed Jin's death. She could still remember her words clearly, even to this day…

_Three Months Ago…_

_The press had gathered around her. Nina, dressed in black business attire, looked around and swallowed the lump in her throat. She hated the thought that she was the one that had to pick up the pieces, but it had to be done and she was the only one left to carry out that task. _

"_I'm sure you're all wondering why this press conference had been called," Nina spoke into the microphone. "I, Nina Williams, the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, will be announcing the withdrawal of all_ _troops. Therefore, I'm calling the end of this war and effective immediately, these troops will be dispatched to assist with clean-up operations."_

_She took a breath and continued._

"_On behalf of the late Jin Kazama, we would like to apologise for the starting of the war, but it was a necessary action to save it," she continued, causing the reporters and the worldwide audience to be confused. "The reason to start the war…was to stop an ancient spirit that had been locked away for hundreds of years to resurrect and spread its chaos."_

_Before speaking her next words, Nina remembered what she had said to Lars before she left him._

"_But before you all start condemning his actions, maybe you're all such saints that you think you can judge whether that he was right, or wrong. Somehow, I doubt it and in a way, Jin Kazama can be forever perceived as an anti-hero to many, but to others…he sacrificed himself so that the rest of us can live in an entropy-free planet. Thank you for your time and I will not be taking questions at this current point in time." _

_Present Day…_

Shortly after, the mark of the Devil that plagued Nina's forearm disappeared within a month. She had approached Dr. Boskonovitch and he had confirmed that Devil had no controlling presence of her and she returned to her normal human-self. But even so, there was still that voice echoing in her mind and she couldn't put her finger on it. She had thought, when she left Azazel's temple after her conversation with Lars that Jin's sacrifice was in vein and hadn't stopped the curse, but maybe it just needed time to disappear.

She had grieved for a while, but then realised that Jin didn't die just so that she lived on and drown in despair. No, he would have wanted for her to live on like always, to be the strong, independent woman that he first met. From that day, Nina's resolve strengthened and hardened back into the woman that she once was. To live life without fear, to do what she was tasked to do, but never once forgetting about the one man that she allowed into her heart. She hadn't closed herself entirely, but she wasn't prepared to allow people to come in as she wanted Jin's memory never to be replaced from that one spot within her.

It was funny how things ended up. Once the cold-blooded assassin, fighting underground competitions just to earn money, ending up being hired as a bodyguard and fall in love to result in becoming the CEO of an organisation within a year, it wasn't anything that she had expected. She still had that cold-blooded exterior that people feared and made them avoid crossing the line with her, and that alone constantly made the soldiers alert of her presence. It certainly a place that Nina never had thought she would end up in.

'Hmph, I thought that after this I would be taking out contracts again for clients,' she thought and a small grin appeared on her lips. 'But I guess that won't be happening. Don't want Kazuya or that old bastard Heihachi to claim the Zaibatsu and start wars again.'

There had been no word on any activity by the G-Corporation. Nina figured that since their army had suffered a great loss of numbers, they had gone into hiding and probably were rebuilding. Even if that were the case, Nina was prepared to retaliate if they were to attack, but for now her goal was to restore the world to how it once was before the conflict.

"At ease," she spoke into the microphone. "You all have done a fair bit of work in the clean-up process, and I formally congratulate you on your efforts. But, we still have a long way to go, there are still multiple nations that need our help. However, you all need to keep in mind of a possible attack from G-Corporation…"

She drifted off for a moment, feeling a small sickness gather in her stomach. Perhaps she still felt nervous about speaking in front of a large crowd, but she wouldn't let the nervousness show.

"Anyway, even though the war has been over for quite sometime," she continued, ignoring the sickening feeling. "Kazuya Mishima will try to bring us down, and need to be prepared to defend ourselves. Therefore, I'm calling for all bases to be rebuilt and operational within the next…" She paused for a moment. Her stomach began to feel heavier. "…few months, and training will need to occur while we continue our current operations."

Suddenly, she felt herself start to go light-headed. What was wrong with her? Nina over the past month had been feeling a little off-colour, but dismissed it as just being constantly exhausted all the time. For the past couple of weeks, she had been throwing-up every morning and guessed it was just some stomach-bug that she might have caught from a soldier or executive. But if it was just that, then shouldn't have gone away within a week?

Something obviously wasn't right, but Nina dismissed it and continued on with her address.

"As of now, I am ordering a…"

Her body grew weak, her head grew foggy-like and it turned into dizziness. Nina felt her legs shake at the knees, like jelly and she felt that she could no longer find the strength to stay upright. The soldiers at the front saw this and rushed up onto the stage just as she fell onto her knees. They caught her and gently placed her down, calling for medical personnel to come over and help. Nina lost all awareness of her surroundings and entered her own realm and she closed her eyes, the voices of the soldiers and medical personnel seemed far away.

Soon, a long-gone voice spoke to her.

"_Bet you thought that I was gone," _the familiar voice of Devil filled her head.

'Why are you still here?' Nina asked, her voice beginning to crack. 'How did you stay in my body?'

"_I'm inside you, but I'm not inside of you. If you know what I mean."_

'What the hell are you saying?'

"_You are currently carrying the heir to the Devil Gene," _Devil replied. _"My entity lives inside the life-form conceived by you and the other carrier of this curse, and will live with the burden of carrying the Devil Gene."_

If jaws were capable of dropping and hitting the ground, then Nina's was doing that. The nausea, constantly feeling dizzy and the changes of mood from time to time and being late, it all made sense. The last time her and Jin slept together was the night before his death, three months ago. All the signs and symptoms, the time of conception, it all fitted together perfectly!

Unconsciously, Nina held a hand over her still flat stomach as the soldiers hoisted her up onto her feet and began to escort her off the stage. She was carrying Jin's child, the heir to the Devil Gene and the dirty blood of the Mishimas. As she was led away, possibly to the infirmary, she was too shocked to even speak and was only able to voice what she felt inside her own head.

'I…I don't know what to say,' Nina thought. 'With Jin gone, I have to face this alone. He wanted the bloodline to end, not for it to carry on. Oh God! What were we even thinking in the first place?'

What if Kazuya and Heihachi were to find out? They would surely try to find the child and to extract the Devil Gene for their own personal gain. The thought of that shook Nina to the core, because now she had no choice but to protect the living thing that grew inside her.

The heir to the Devil Gene was sheltered inside the Devil's bodyguard.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

A/N: Before I forget, the last scene of this chapter was an idea that was given to me in a review from the previous chapter, they will be recognised at the conclusion of the second epilogue :)_  
_


	25. Epilogue II

A/N: Not much to say here. Please refer to the author note on top of the previous epilogue to understand what's going on or how to vote for the favourite ending and how long you have got. Anyway, here is the second epilogue.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or anything related to it, they are the property of Namco.

* * *

**Epilogue II- Three Months Later**

_Location: Cemetery- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil_

_Time: 1300hrs_

Never in her life had she seen the weather to be so gloomy and overcast, but she supposed that it was very fitting of what this day was to her. After months of searching, Christie had located her grandfather in a hospital in Rio. At first, she was excited that she had the chance to be reunited with her only known family, but as soon as she walked into that room, the joy vanished. The grandfather that she once knew was no longer there, instead was the shell that was connected to wires and tubes, machines beeped and supported this fragile life.

The doctors had told her that he was in a grave state, that there was a very slim chance that he would wake up and be the same man that he was before. Eventually, Christie had to make the decision. Of course, more than anything in the world, she wanted him to live and for everything to go back to how it was before his imprisonment. However, he would be in constant pain, suffering and Christie realised that perhaps that time had passed, maybe it was better for him to die peacefully than to live on.

The very next day, she informed the doctors to switch off the life-support and her grandfather died shortly after. Soon after that, Steve left for Japan after he heard about Jin's death and Christie told him that his place was with his mother, that Nina needed him more than her.

The young woman stood there alone, her face concealed by a dark veil and wore a black, long-sleeved dress. Christie looked up into the sky, the tears streamed down her face. Oh how she wished that she didn't have to do this alone, she wished for one person and one person to be there by her side. Of course, she was still furious with him for taking off like that, but now more than ever, Christie wanted nothing more than for Eddy to be with her, to hold her in his strong arms and tell her words of comfort.

'Eddy, I wish you were here.'

She sobbed quietly and looked down, closing her eyes.

"Grandpa," she managed to say, her voice broken.

The sound of footsteps approached from behind, alerting the woman of the presence of another person. When she looked up, it was the person that had been on her mind this entire time.

Eddy walked up to her silently and stood next her. He wore a dark suit and glasses, the symbol of the Mishima Zaibatsu still attached to his lapel. He never looked at her, only to stare down at the grave that his mentor occupied. Christie, however, no longer could keep the emotions bottled up and moved in front of him and narrowed her eyes in anger. She raised her hand and slapped him, the sound of skin meeting skin echoed through the air.

"Where have you been?"

The Brazilian man never said a word, only to feel the guilt of everything that he had placed the young woman in front of him through. His former student that he had considered to be more than a close friend, but never had the chance to express how he felt. But he knew that she felt the same way.

Instantly, she fell into him wrapped her arms around his torso, silently wept into his broad chest. Eddy knew exactly who was to blame. He trusted Jin and the Mishima Zaibatsu to cure his mentor's illness, but instead it was worse than was it had been and progressed even faster. They needed to pay and reaching his hand up to the lapel of his jacket, he ripped off the pin that symbolised his involvement with the Zaibatsu and threw it onto the ground. It cracked in half and Eddy wrapped his strong arms around Christie and the two of them continued to stand there in silence.

* * *

_Location: Millennium Tower- Kazuya's Office_

_Time: 0100hrs_

"What's the plan now?" Anna asked as she reached forward to grab her glass of red wine from Kazuya's outstretched hand. "Now with the war over, perhaps this will be our chance to take down the Zaibatsu."

Kazuya sighed and downed a mouthful of wine as he leaned up against the front of his wooden desk, in that darkened office. The war had been over for the past three months, his troops still suffered the aftermath. The final battle decimated the majority of his elite soldiers and the army wasn't strong enough to even take on a half-strength Tekken Force. It was evident that it would take a long time for G-Corp to rebuild before opposing the Mishima Zaibatsu again, but until that day comes it was time to allow the world to recover from the devastation.

"Not at the moment, the army is still weak," Kazuya replied and looked into his glass, smirking. "Anyway, I think that sister of yours will be staying away from war for quite a while, seems like she's got things of her own to be dealing with."

Anna chuckled and crossed her legs.

'Oh yes, my dear sister must be still grieving,' she thought, swirling around the contents of her glass in an elegant manner. 'I wonder whether if she's going to give the Zaibatsu up.'

"So you're going to wait, to see if she'll hand the Zaibatsu off?"

Chuckling, Kazuya stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk. He instantly received word about Jin just as he was leaving Egypt that day, then he watched the press conference presented by Nina. She confirmed that Jin Kazama was dead and giving a public apology, as well as an explanation of Jin's reasons for starting the war. Since that day, Kazuya had been waiting for the opportunity that Nina would leave the Zaibatsu and then he would seize control, to run both organisations for his own plot for world domination. He knew that somewhere, out there that Heihachi too was waiting for the same opportunity.

"If I can gain control of the Zaibatsu, then the world will be at my mercy," he explained. "Imagine it, no one would dare to oppose us and both armies will be combined. The world will be brought down onto its knees, I will have gained back the Devil's power and then…then no one can stop me."

"I know my sister, she wouldn't give up without a fight," Anna told him and stood up. "Why do you think she hadn't submitted to me yet in our battles?"

Kazuya smiled at her, recalling when Nina was captured and placed into cryosleep. He certainly remembered that the assassin had tried to fight off the guards as they dragged her down into the laboratory to be placed into the cryogenic tube, hell she was still kicking as she was being restrained down. Certainly, that sort of fighting spirit had to be admired, but was foolish enough to think she was capable to secretly get past an entire army and three bodyguards just to kill him.

There had to be a weakness of hers that they could use to their advantage. It was just the matter of trying to find it.

"Indeed, she is a stubborn one," Kazuya said after a while. "However, she has a weakness just like everyone else. Like mine is power…"

"And hers are her own memories," Anna finished and started to walk over to him. "I know for a fact when she began to recall the memories of her and our past she would succumb to be crippled with pain. It happened in the graveyard when we visited out father's stone."

Kazuya nodded and raised his glass, while Anna did the same.

"Here is to the beginning of a new dawn," Kazuya proposed a toast. "May our enemies fall to our mercy."

Anna gave a sweet smile and they tapped their glasses together.

* * *

_August 16th 2008_

_Location: Mishima Zaibatsu- Military Compound_

_Time: 1130hrs_

The sky was grey and overcast, the base was in ruins and the troops were halved. But those factors hadn't stopped the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu from standing before the Tekken Force, up on that podium and lingered an icy blue gaze over the men. Her long, black leather coat flew behind her as she walked across that stage and stopped upon reaching the microphone, her long blonde hair was loose and ran down her back, cascading down like a waterfall. She was in black skirt, shirt and heels and had that look of determination set across her face.

Nina had been busy with her duties over the past few months since that fateful day. The day after returning from Egypt, she announced the end of the war and confirmed Jin's death. She could still remember her words clearly, even to this day…

_Three Months Ago…_

_The press had gathered around her. Nina, dressed in black business attire, looked around and swallowed the lump in her throat. She hated the thought that she was the one that had to pick up the pieces, but it had to be done and she was the only one left to carry out that task. _

"_I'm sure you're all wondering why this press conference had been called," Nina spoke into the microphone. "I, Nina Williams, the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, will be announcing the withdrawal of all_ _troops. Therefore, I'm calling the end of this war and effective immediately, these troops will be dispatched to assist with clean-up operations."_

_She took a breath and continued._

"_On behalf of the late Jin Kazama, we would like to apologise for the starting of the war, but it was a necessary action to save it," she continued, causing the reporters and the worldwide audience to be confused. "The reason to start the war…was to stop an ancient spirit that had been locked away for hundreds of years to resurrect and spread its chaos."_

_Before speaking her next words, Nina remembered what she had said to Lars before she left him._

"_But before you all start condemning his actions, maybe you're all such saints that you think you can judge whether that he was right, or wrong. Somehow, I doubt it and in a way, Jin Kazama can be forever perceived as an anti-hero to many, but to others…he sacrificed himself so that the rest of us can live in an entropy-free planet. Thank you for your time and I will not be taking questions at this current point in time." _

_Present Day…_

Shortly after, the mark of the Devil that plagued Nina's forearm disappeared within a month. She had approached Dr. Boskonovitch and he had confirmed that Devil had no controlling presence of her and she returned to her normal human-self. But even so, there was still that voice echoing in her mind and she couldn't put her finger on it. She had thought, when she left Azazel's temple after her conversation with Lars that Jin's sacrifice was in vein and hadn't stopped the curse, but maybe it just needed time to disappear.

She had grieved for a while, but then realised that Jin didn't die just so that she lived on and drown in despair. No, he would have wanted for her to live on like always, to be the strong, independent woman that he first met. From that day, Nina's resolve strengthened and hardened back into the woman that she once was. To live life without fear, to do what she was tasked to do, but never once forgetting about the one man that she allowed into her heart. She hadn't closed herself entirely, but she wasn't prepared to allow people to come in as she wanted Jin's memory never to be replaced from that one spot within her.

It was funny how things ended up. Once the cold-blooded assassin, fighting underground competitions just to earn money, ending up being hired as a bodyguard and fall in love to result in becoming the CEO of an organisation within a year, it wasn't anything that she had expected. She still had that cold-blooded exterior that people feared and made them avoid crossing the line with her, and that alone constantly made the soldiers alert of her presence. It certainly a place that Nina never had thought she would end up in.

'Hmph, I thought that after this I would be taking out contracts again for clients,' she thought and a small grin appeared on her lips. 'But I guess that won't be happening. Don't want Kazuya or that old bastard Heihachi to claim the Zaibatsu and start wars again.'

There had been no word on any activity by the G-Corporation. Nina figured that since their army had suffered a great loss of numbers, they had gone into hiding and probably were rebuilding. Even if that were the case, Nina was prepared to retaliate if they were to attack, but for now her goal was to restore the world to how it once was before the conflict.

"At ease," she spoke into the microphone. "You all have done a fair bit of work in the clean-up process, and I formally congratulate you on your efforts. But, we still have a long way to go, there are still multiple nations that need our help. However, you all need to keep in mind of a possible attack from G-Corporation…"

She drifted off for a moment, recollected her thoughts and took a deep breath. Obviously speaking in public was still getting to her.

"Anyway, even though the war has been over for quite sometime," she continued, ignoring the knot that had formed in her stomach. "Kazuya Mishima will try to bring us down, and need to be prepared to defend ourselves. Therefore, I'm calling for all bases to be rebuilt and operational within the next few months, and training will need to occur while we continue our current operations."

She looked over to Steve, who stood off-stage and smiled at her, reassuring that she was doing fine. The blonde woman nodded and continued.

"As of now, I am ordering for all soldiers not to attack the enemy, unless you're fired upon first. That is all that I have to say and I'll hand you back to your commanders to dismiss you."

Nina saluted the troops and began to make her exit.

"Well, you certainly had them drawn in," Steve said while he stood there dressed in a light blue suit, as Nina walked down the steps. "So what's going to happen next?"

Nina shrugged and continued to walk on, with her son beside her.

"I don't know, everything will just be a waiting game now," she replied. "Kazuya has to make the first move before we can do anything." The two of them stopped and looked at each other. "But for now, we have run everything as normal."

Steve nodded and crossed his arms. Since leaving Christie in Brazil to seek out Nina, the young boxer decided to stay and help out as much as he could with the clean-up since Nina announced the end of the war. Over the past few months, they continued to strengthen the mother-son bond that they slowed started to develop months ago, resulting in Nina officially making Steve her right-hand man and second-in-command.

At first he was reluctant, still held some hatred for everything that the Zaibatsu did. But over time and since it was his mother that was in control and changing things for the greater good, he had a change of heart and accepted.

The two of them smiled at each other, before Steve narrowed his eyes and looked past Nina's shoulder.

"Hey, who are you?"

"Steve, what's wrong?"

"None of your business, I'm here to see her," a third, deep male voice said from behind the assassin.

Nina spun around, pulling out a handgun that she had concealed under her short skirt and pointed it at the dark-skinned man behind her. Instantly, she recognised him, she fought him in the fifth tournament.

"_Some call me Raven, the dark talon of death."_

Slowly, Nina lowered her gun and narrowed her eyes at the intruder.

"Never thought I'd see your face again."

"I wasn't expecting a warm reception, in fact I don't even know why I came here," Raven replied, crossing his arms. "But, I have some information that you might be interested in."

The assassin sighed heavily and turned her back to him, preparing to walk off.

"Whatever you have to say, you can keep to yourself. You need to leave before I alert the soldiers of an intruder on the base."

The ninja chuckled deeply and remained glued to the spot.

"Your loss then," he said and dropped his arms by his side. "I just thought you'd be interested that we have intelligence on the whereabouts of Jin and fragments that have been confirmed to belong to Azazel."

Nina's eyes widened and she turned back around. Did they find something? What if it was a trick? No, if she dismissed him now then she wouldn't ever know whether if he was telling the truth in the first place. Quickly, she glanced over to Steve, who visibly was thinking the same thing that she was thinking and then back to Raven.

'Have they been looking for him this entire time?' Nina thought and crossed her arms. 'Of course, if they found him, then a part of Azazel would have been located nearby. But can I trust him enough to know that he's telling the truth?'

She took a few steps towards the man and looked down to the ground.

"We'll go back to the Zaibatsu," she told him and looked up. "You can explain everything there, and I mean everything. I want to know about what you found."

Raven nodded and followed mother and son through the grounds of the compound.

Whatever it was, Nina realised that even though there was a possibility that Jin had been located, she couldn't bring herself around to find hope. Of course, she wanted deep down to be reunited with him, but she wanted to live on with Jin's memory stored in her heart so that it would hurt less. In his absence, she had rebuilt the emotion wall that she once had up and only allowed her only son to enter and closed it off to all others. But still, if there was the chance to gain closure, then Nina was going to take that opportunity, even if it was in words.

The Devil's bodyguard was about to hear about the possible location of the one that she once protected.

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

Final Author Notes: Ok guys, that was the final update for this fic. Thank you to everyone that had followed this story from start to finish for almost over a year, your support has been much appreciated and hopefully you will follow me into the sequel and give your support in that and all future Tekken fics that I'm sure that I'll end up writing in the future.

Thanks to those that had added this fic to their alerts, glad to see that so many of you were looking out for updates to this story. A big thank you to everyone that had reviewed, I couldn't have written this without you as you have giving me ways to improve the fic and helped in its progression :)

Special thanks to those that had favoured, you all inspired me to keep going and for so many of you to like this story that came from a late night at home, icing bruises from a harsh training night. I wish I could name you all, but there's too many to make a list of, so I'm just going to name people that had a big influence (both favourites and reviewers).

- claudiaeneri (the first person to favour the fic)

- EpyonZero23 (you really helped in pointing out where I was rusty late in the fic after a long lay off)

-NatsuXIII (your consistent reviews during various chapters pushed me on)

- AkemiRie (a huge thanks to you for reviewing and supporting this fic not only here, but also on DA by adding it to the JinxNina page there)

- LaDyRvE (a big thanks to you for supporting this fic and continuously giving me ideas in PM and reviews. The last part of the first epilogue was based on the suggestion you gave me and you deserve the credit for it.)

I'm sorry if I have missed anyone, but thank you anyway. Hopefully you will follow the sequel and you will be hearing from me soon.

Cheers,

Wellsy71 :)


End file.
